MP Jeremy Corbyn joins education and public health staff on the picket line after a proposed ‘reorganisation’ at the Town Hall

COUNCIL workers began industrial action yesterday (Thursday) – their union’s first strike at the Town Hall for almost 25 years.

Education and public health staff on the picket line told the Tribune they had been left with “no alternative” but to walk out.

The Labour-run council is proposing a “reorganisation” that would see all staff in specialist data-gathering teams working together in one department.

Union bosses say the changes mean more work for the same pay and amount to a “lack of job security” for long-standing staff members who have been told to re-apply for their positions. There are also concerns that cuts are coming down the line with the council set to lose a huge chunk of funding over the coming years.

Islington Unison rep Rachel Ivens, a data analyst in the education department at the Town Hall, said: “Effectively, what this restructuring means is just cuts, cuts and more cuts.

“There was an appetite to work with the council on these proposed changes, but what we’re seeing is people having to interview for less specialised, lower-grade jobs. They’ve said there’s no redundancies, so then why are we having to reinterview?”

Islington Unison rep Rachel Ivens

She said: “Initially, it was all singing and dancing, they tried to present it as something beneficial. But what has transpired since then is that they are cutting roles and downgrading jobs. We felt we had no option but to strike on GCSE results day, the busiest day in my calendar of the last 12 years.

“I think they thought that we would eventually get tired and would just accept the changes, so they could be rolled out to other teams and this would set a bad precedent.”

Ms Ivens said that restructuring changes have been happening across different council departments, adding: “This is affecting teams across the Town Hall, and every time we tried to raise our concerns they were pushed into the long grass.

“We’re constantly having different teams coming to speak to us, who are worried about it happening to them too. We don’t just exist to balance the books, we are providing key services.”

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn joined the protest and warned that the Labour government had done nothing to reverse “Tory austerity” and was failing to properly fund Islington Council.

In 2025, Labour introduced the “Fairer Funding Review” to try and redistribute local authority funding across the country.

Speaking to the Tribune, Mr Corbyn said: “We are still living under the austerity of the Tories with this Labour government, and that is making inner London boroughs worse off.

“It’s a load of money being cut, and local authorities are no better off under the current government. We’ve got a Labour government that are doing nothing about it, and what we are seeing is a repeat of the 1980s and 1990s-style of cutting funding for London boroughs. And the result is damage to key services. A change has to come from national government.”

Council staff on the picket line yesterday (Thursday)

The union said it had not had direct contact with management at the Town Hall that had refused to grant official “dispute” status to the strike action.

Jane Doolan, UNISON secretary in Islington, said: “This is really interesting because it’s the first strike we’ve had here for over 20 years.

“In an era where we’re supposed to be data-driven and using technology more, these services are being cut.

“The consequences of austerity are that fewer staff are left with more responsibility and bigger workloads. Our data staff have said ‘enough is enough’.”

Islington Council’s official press release on GCSEs includes no data on results, as a result of the strikes.

While council UNISON members have joined more recent regional strikes, this is the first time they have directly balloted to strike locally against Islington Council since 2002.

Cllr Paul Convery, Town Hall Finance chief, said: “I am disappointed that 14 staff members voted to strike. At Islington we have a track record of good industrial relations and this one-day action is the first strike in over four years. It has happened despite extensive dialogue with the trade union, and I hope we can continue that discussion to find a resolution.

“Our plan is simply to consolidate several data and performance teams into a single council-wide support service. The purpose is to reduce duplication, improve quality and increase productivity. We want to get greater consistency and quality in how the council uses data for decision-making and ensure that resources are better focussed. The council’s back office support teams have to operate efficiently so that scarce funds can be concentrated on vital public-facing services.”