TGWU tells Interserve: 'give peace a chance'

The TGWU has proposed a May summit to give Liverpool City Council and Interserve an opportunity to sort out an ongoing row over a contract to maintain 20,000 council homes in Merseyside (CJ 16 April).

The union's national organiser Jack Dromey and national secretary for construction Bob Blackman met council leader Mike Storey and chief executive David Henshaw last week after the council said it wanted to slash the budget for the contractor from £28m to £20m.

The move, the union claimed, would result in 150 of the 600-strong Interserve workforce being made redundant.

The TGWU described the talks as "positive"; the union has put forward a blueprint for a solution that it expects the council to formally agree.

Dromey said: "Tenants deserve a better service. Our members deserve fair treatment and the lifting of the threat of compulsory redundancies. A May summit is designed to sort out this unholy mess.

"We now expect Interserve to shelve plans for compulsory redundancies and give peace a chance. If not, we will ballot our members for industrial action against the contractor."

Liverpool City Council said it agreed with the idea of a summit, while Interserve was unavailable for comment.