Public sector strikes cause disruption in Sutton

8:24am Wednesday 30th November 2011 in News By Matt Watts

Teachers are among those striking today Teachers are among those striking today

Schools will be shut today and hospital and council services disrupted as public sector workers go on strike.

Twenty-six schools in Sutton will be closed, and 28 part-closed, while nine will stay open as staff walkout in a row over pensions.

Sutton Council said it was likely refuse collections would be disrupted as bin men join the strike.

The council expects Wallington, Cheam and Carshalton libraries to be closed because of staff shortages.

Sutton library could also be affected between 5pm and 8pm.

The meals on wheels and care services will run as normal.

Children's Centres will open as normal, except the Tweeddale Centre, which will be closed.

No disruption is expected to the reception at the Civic Offices and the council's contact centre.

Some nurses and midwives at St Helier Hopsital are also expected to strike today, but the hospital has said it is fully prepared to continue its work with minimal disruption.

It said some appointments could be cancelled.

Keep up-to-date with the strike at suttonguardian.co.uk.

Are you being affected by the industrial action? Are you taking part in it?

Send your stories and pictures to mwatts@london.newsquest.co.uk, call 0208 722 6359, or leave a comment in the space below.

Comments(3)

Michael Pantlin says...
5:00pm Wed 30 Nov 11

As a chronic hospital patient I have a lot of sympathy with those who are on strike. Although the focus is pensions today I think that seeing British people stand up for themselves for a change will garner widespread support from others who are aggrieved but don't have much muscle once the usual democratic process have let them down because of the way this government is bulldozing through action which would have been unthinkable and for which they have no mandate. I am thinking especially of the radical changes that are being forced on our local hospital services by a myriad of unelected quangos and technocrats that even our elected local politicians seem powerless to stop. I am also thinking of the iniquitous ATOS contractor who is being paid to test disabled people on incapacity benefits and fail as many as possible in a cursory and unsatisfactory way that sees 50% of their decisions reversed on appeal when the cased is examined properly. Country short of cash? Yet no trouble finding £151,000 for the Wilko Grass Wall or Speaker Bercow of the Commons spending £38,000 on a portrait of himself as if a digital photo is not more than enough. Our leaders want to cut us while it's business as usual for them.

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Cupoftea says...
9:50pm Wed 30 Nov 11

Is it just me or has there very little recent coverage in here on the situation in the NHS or local authority?

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imalaydee says...
3:54pm Thu 1 Dec 11

Divide and Rule people, Divide and Rule, first law of Government.

Why are we attacking fellow members of the Public who just dont want to be living on the Breadline when they retire? a Teacher earns £30,000 a year with a £15,000 a year Pension (due to be slashed) and to work for 50 years to get it, a Minister gets a £93,000 a year Pension for 20 years Service! and yet we believe the lies they spew out about "gilt edged" pensions, utter rot, they only people with gilt edged Pensions are the MP's! and I dont see them agreeing to a reduction of theirs, they are too busy pointing to a Dinner lady or a Binman and shouting "look its a Wolf - kill it" and you all fall for it!

Just a note on the Clarkson thing, whether he was joking or not, he has a nerve to compare himself to "us who work for a living", he gets £2 million a year to swan around the world acting the goat, he would nt know hard work if it bit him on the nose.

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