By Hywel Trewyn And Tom Barton

18 Jul, 2002

Page 4,5 "

STRIKE action brought North Wales to a halt yesterday as thousands of council workers walked out over a pay dispute.

Around 10,000 members of Unison, the GMB and Transport and General Workers' Union stayed away from work or manned picket lines outside council buildings.

Strike meetings were held outside all council HQs.

Funerals were cancelled in some areas as well as refuse collections and schools where forced to close.

Union leaders warned that the one-day action would have a knockon effect that would be felt for many weeks.

GMB spokeswoman Alison Smith of Colwyn Bay said: 'It's been extremely good. In Gwynedd all our depots closed and council offices were on minimum staffing. Secondary schools and some primary schools closed; there were no school buses and most leisure centres closed.

'On Anglesey all depots, day centres, sport centres, council offices, 90pc of schools closed and in Conwy, the town hall, transport, refuse and cleansing department, all council depots and some schools closed.

'We have taken the decision as unions not to inconvenience the public. Residential homes are running as normal. We're not arguing with the general public or with the most vulnerable members of society.'

T&G regional officer at Caernarfon Tom Jones said: 'There's been tremendous support for the dispute.

The information reaching us is that the councils have come to a virtual stop. This dispute has been on the cards for years where the pay gap between those on the top and those on the bottom has been widening.

Mr Jones said: 'Although we need to get the message across, we don't want to inconvenience the elderly.

He added: 'Although the bins won't be collected today, they'll be back at work tomorrow. But they won't be able to catch up with what they failed to do today. There will be problems. This isn't just a one-day protest. This will have a knock-on effect, which could last for weeks.'

Lucy Davies of the Funeral Standards Council said: 'I know in Cardiff there are no cremations today. Basically all funerals which should have taken place have either taken place before today or will be cleared over the next couple of days. 'It will cause more demand. There are private crematoriums not affected by the union regulations.'

Yesterday, Anglesey Council decided to close all its buildings in Llangefni. Managing director Geraint Edwards said: 'It was felt best to close the buildings in the interest of public safety . . . services to the public will undoubtedly be severely restricted.'

Twenty-four of the island's 52 primary schools were closed as well as all secondary schools.

The authority had an agreement with unions to exempt services such as home and residential care, emergency responses to child care, mental, health, hospital and highways.

Twenty workers manned a picket line at Llangefni yesterday while inside, head of policy Huw Jones said about 15pc of council staff were working.

Refuse collections were not affected he said as that service was being run by a private company, Ecover, at Gaerwen.

Pickets were also outside the Gwynedd Council HQ in Caernarfon where a total of 75 workers were inside; another 30 in the Arfon office; seven in Pwllheli and seven in Dolgellau.

Policy spokesman Arwel Jones said no refuse collections were being made. Two -thirds of the schools remained open while a third were only open to teachers. Sixty-two primary schools were open and 44 closed. Ten secondary schools were open and four closed. All special schools were closed.

Half of the leisure centres were open and some libraries. And visitors arriving at Caernarfon had a problem. Toilets alongside the castle were closed with a notice saying it was due to industrial action.

There was a picket staged outside Conwy Council's HQ . No refuse was being collected but only three schools were affected.

Peter Kane, chairman of the Flintshire branch of Unison, hailed the strike in the county as an unqualified success.

'From our perspective it's been very successful, as only around 50 people have gone into work,' he said.

He added: 'When you consider that only about 50pc of council workers are union members, we could have expected this figure to be in the hundreds.'

All high schools in the area were closed, except for Castell Alun HighSchool at Hope, which was accepting year 10 pupils only, while around 50pc of primary schools were forced to close because of health and safety considerations.

Residents were denied refuse collection services and access to sports centres, and Clwyd Theatr Cymru at Mold was closed for the day.

Traders on Mold street market defied a council decision that the market would not open yesterday, and took on the jobs usually carried out by council employees, such as closing the street to traffic and clearing up their litter.

Peter Smith, chairman of the Market Traders' Federation in Flintshire said: 'We sympathise with the people on strike, but we have a living to earn. We have been welcomed into the town by local shopkeepers, and will comply with the council's request that we clean up our litter when we leave.'

Although the strike was predominantly peaceful, one statement by the county council's chief executive, Philip McGreevy, did draw criticism. During a meeting with councillors explaining the council's contingency plans, Mr McGreevy commented on the low turnout in some unions' strike ballots.

Mostyn councillor Patrick Heesom said such comments 'were to be regretted considering many members of the council had been voted in by only about 15pc of the electorate, and the National Assembly went ahead on barely a 25pc vote'.

Schools in Wrexham were mostly open during the day, with only one secondary school - Darland School - closed to pupils.

Steve Jenkins, the Wrexham area Unison representative, however, said that most children who went to school yesterday would not receive any school meals.

Like most of the region's counties there was no refuse collection during the day, and a pilot recycling collection scheme also had to be abandoned. The social services headquarters was also closed down for the day, with only 'life and limb' services being provided for vulnerable people.

Mr Jenkins added that, overall, the union was pleased with the turnout: 'We've had a fantastic response from both members and non-members' A number of Denbighshire council buildings were open all day to take public enquiries, although the municipal office in Prestatyn was closed, as well as the housing department in Rhyl.

All of the area's mainstream schools were closed, with only Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn and Ysgol Tir Morfa - both special schools - open to pupils.

There were reports of trouble outside the council headquarters, with some union members accusing the council's chief executive, Ian Miller, of ripping up a poster on a picket line.

Mike O'Leary of the Denbighshire T&G union said: 'Ian Miller arrived at the council offices, saw the picket signs and decided to tear them.'

Mr Miller denied any wrongdoing, saying that he removed signs that had been improperly attached to council property and, in doing so, accidentally tore one.