Move to strike a deal for traders

Councillors and managers are trying to work out a better deal for Oldham’s market traders if there are more strikes by council staff.

Traders in Oldham, Shaw, Royton and Uppermill were forced to close the week before last during two days of strikes by council staff.

But some Oldham stalls in brick built units, and the shops on the perimeter of Oldham Market Hall, were allowed to open.

The different treatment has angered many traders who said they had offered to clean up after themselves if they were allowed to trade.

These include Dawn Street, who sells women’s clothes on Oldham Market, and who had to close.

She said: “We were threatened with having our licence terminated if we traded, yet the brick stall on the Lord Street side of the market opened, including the wet fish stall, fruit and veg, cakes biscuits, towel stall and the cafe.

“Security staff worked and the market toilets were open — one of the main reasons we were told we had to close was because there might be no toilets.”

The cabinet member for environment councillor Mark Alcock, said the main difficulty was the uncertainty of how many people, in which departments, would be working.

The businesses that hold licences in the brick units are also keyholders and can open up themselves, he explained. He added: “It is quite possible that traders could have seen staff ‘as normal’, however there was no way to guarantee that this would be the case the week before when decisions had to be made.

“I completely understand that this closure unfairly penalised market traders and their staff who had no choice but to close. I am aware of requests made for stall holders to be allowed to clean up after themselves. The council is looking at the legal implications of this.”