Hundreds of tennis players at Long Mumble tennis club have been forced to stay at home today as tennis coaches kicked off a month of crippling strike action.
A 4 week strike began early today after members of the tennis coach union rejected the latest pay offer from Sandra Dodsworth (who is on the committee) at Long Mumble tennis club.
In a major blow to tennis players hoping to improve their game, further industrial action will happen again in 4 weeks time if the committee at Long Mumble tennis club don’t improve their pay offer to coaches.
On a turnout of 97 per cent of tennis coaches, 84per cent of tennis coach union members voted to reject a 42 per cent pay rise over the six months.
In contrast, tennis coaches who work at the Mumble Rise Tennis club (just ten minutes down the road) agreed to the deal, ending months of negotiations and damaging walk outs that has seen a few people unable to have tennis lessons.
This morning Union Chief Michael ‘the Bastard’ Johnson insisted he’s not out to ruin anyones tennis lessons.
He told journalists from the World Tennis Federation: “I have no intention of spoiling people’s tennis lessons. The committee at Long Mumble tennis club is contributing to spoiling peoples tennis lessons because they’ve brought these strikes on by stopping tennis coaches making more money for doing less work.”
“That’s the situation that we are in and we will keep this dispute going until we get a reasonable settlement and a decent set of proposals that our tennis coaches are prepared to accept.”
Sandra Dodsworth (who is on the committee at Long Mumble tennis club) – hit back, suggesting a higher pay rise would be unfair to the tennis playing community at Long Mumble.
“There isn’t a bottomless pit of money at Long Mumble tennis club” she told WTF.
“If most tennis coaches look at the offer that’s on the table they’ll think it’s very fair and reasonable. It’s in line with what most people at other tennis clubs locally are getting.”
But in a fresh blow to the committee at Long Mumble tennis club two fresh sets of strikes were confirmed just today.
Janice on reception said she was going on strike, because she wanted some more money also – and she would only consider returning to work when she gets back from Tenerife in 7 days time.
And the volunteers who work behind the bar at Long Mumble tennis club voted to take industrial action over lack of pay and the constant nagging from Sandra Dodsworth (who is on the committee at Long Mumble tennis club).
Yesterday committee members held an emergency TENNIS meeting ahead of this wave of strikes planned to cripple the tennis club over the next few weeks.
After the meeting, Sandra Dodsworth (who is on the committee at Long Mumble tennis club), begged with the strikers: “My message to you lazy buggers, is call off these strikes cause you are not getting any more money.”
Warning that there were major risks to people who were useless at tennis, she added: “The single best thing that can be done to minimise peoples ability to improve their tennis game — is for the strikes to be called off, because we don’t have spare money, we are just a local tennis club whose annual income is less than £100,000.”
These coordinated walk outs are expected to cause mass disruption at Long Mumble tennis club, with about 44 tennis lessons being cancelled, plus the monthly pub quiz.
