By DAVID OLASEINDE
Traffic wardens will go on strike for four days in Bromley, London over a pay row - but drivers could still get fined.
The outsourced workers are employed by the council's contractor APCOA and have been entangled in a ongoing dispute with their employer for months.
But the borough's streets will continue to be patrolled by other members of the APCOA team - meaning people can still be fined
GMB Union members working as Civil Enforcement Officers in the South East London borough will take action from today to Friday, January 9.
This will bring their total days of industrial action to ten.
On this ocassion, the striking wardens will not issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) to motorists violating parking regulations.
APCOA has previously said its pay offer of £13 per hour was a 'fair one', but GMB has called it 'unacceptable' as it is below the London Living Wage of £14.80.
Craig Prickett, GMB Regional Organiser, said: 'Bromley Council cannot keep hiding behind outsourcing arrangements. These workers are enforcing the council's parking policies, generating significant revenue on their behalf, yet they are being paid poverty wages.
'Between APCOA and Bromley Council, this dispute could be resolved at any time. They know exactly what it would take to settle.
On this ocassion, wardens will not issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) to motorists violating parking regulations
Should traffic wardens be paid more given the revenue they generate for councils?
A spokesperson for Bromley Council said: 'Motorists should also note that the borough's streets will continue to be patrolled by other members of the APCOA team'
'There is also a serious question about cost - how much revenue has Bromley Council already lost as a result of ongoing strike action? And how much public money is being spent covering the work of striking staff, including temporary workers, hotel accommodation and travel costs?
The union also said it hasn't heard from APCOA since their initial talks last November in which the union demanded a £17 per hour wage for its members.
A spokesperson for Bromley Council said: 'Motorists should also note that the borough's streets will continue to be patrolled by other members of the APCOA team.'
The Council have also maintained that these strikes won't make a difference to their service.
In November, GMB Union members working in Bromley voted unanimously in favour of industrial action after 97 per cent of them rejected parking company APCOA's hourly 50p increase from £13 as turnout for the strike vote was 72 per cent.
Industrial action was taken last December where dozens of GMB members employed as parking wardens protested outside the full council meeting of the London Borough of Bromley.
At the time, Prickett said: 'Bromley's PCN income has surged and APCOA has received more than £5.3 million in inflation uplifts, yet some of the officers delivering this service are using food banks and working multiple jobs.
'Much of the rejected pay rise would only have raised some staff just above the legal minimum wage, meaning APCOA attempted to present a statutory requirement as if it were a genuine uplift.