Barnsley workers go on strike after Reform council privatises 6 nurseries

Nursery workers in Barnsley have gone on strike over plans by the Reform UK-led council to transfer six nurseries to private providers. 

So much for Reform being the party of ‘working people’, Farage’s party has decided to privatise the nurseries, which will damage services for vulnerable children and leave staff with worse pensions.

Such is the outrage at Reform’s decision that workers at the nurseries who belong to the GMB union went on strike with a turnout rate of 100%, with every single member backing the walkout.

The Guardian reports: “For low-paid working women to take a stand is significant,” said Victoria Austin, a GMB regional organiser, adding that the work done by the nursery staff was above and beyond and “the council should be singing that from the rooftops”.

It adds: “While the plans began under the previous Labour administration, councillors at the time had reassured nursery workers that their pay and benefits, including pensions, would stay the same.

“Austin said Reform, which took over the council at the local elections in May after half a century of Labour leadership, was “not interested” in the workers’ fight, and was “wanting to build a legacy around balancing the books”.

The Reform council has been criticised for the manner in which it has handled the nurseries, after one nursery was shuttered after the council deregistered it with Ofsted to allow the private provider to register, but it then pulled out.

The council has defended its decision to privatise the nurseries, saying that there was no legal duty for it to run nursery services and the change would “reduce the amount of council tax payers’ money needed to support the nurseries”.

So much for Reform caring about working people.