Met call centre staff to strike on New Year's Eve

Metropolitan Police call centre staff are expected to strike on New Year's Eve in a dispute over pay.

Trade union Unite said 175 of its members were due to walk out on one of the busiest days of the year for the emergency services because they had not had a pay increase from the Met for this financial year.

Unite regional officer Keith Henderson said: "We know Londoners will be concerned to hear of strikes on New Year's Eve, but our members at the Met feel they have no choice but to strike in their fight for a fair pay rise."

The Met Police has been approached for comment.

Those who are due to take industrial action work for the Met as call centre staff, recording crime reports and also as technicians and office staff servicing and dispatching vehicles such as police cars and motorbikes.

The 25-hour strike is scheduled to start at 06:00 GMT on 31 December.

Unite said its members voted to take strike action as they have not had a pay increase from the Met for 2025-26, despite the fact the Met has paid a 4.2% pay rise to police officers and all other forces in the UK have given both police officers and staff the 4.2% increase.

It said the Met had put forward two provisional offers: a "below-RPI pay increase" of 3.8% or a 4.2% offer "conditional on workers accepting vastly inferior conditions".

Last year, policing New Year's Eve cost the Met almost £2.3m, according to the union.

"As a significant night in policing, strike action will be very disruptive including causing delays to emergency call-outs," Unite added.