Picket lines were set up and placards were waved as trade unionists walked out over Barnet Council’s latest outsourcing proposals.

The authority is to make £73.5m of cuts by 2020, and is currently looking at outsourcing council services including libraries, children’s centres and street cleaning to save money. 

Unison members took industrial action yesterday and today at North London Business Park, Chipping Barnet Library, North Finchley Library and Mill Hill Depot in protest at the proposals.

They claim the plans will damage working conditions and reduce accountability to taxpayers.

Cathy Yilmaz has worked in Barnet’s libraries for 28 years, and joined the picket line at North Finchley Library.

She said: “Nobody is happy about being outsourced, we want to stay in house. We don’t want a private company coming in and taking over our libraries. We fear our terms and conditions will deteriorate. The service will be hit hard, they won’t get such a good service as they are now if that happens.”

Speaking about the cuts to Barnet’s library service, she said the public had been supportive.

She added: “There are perhaps a group here and there who don’t know about it, but we’re getting the word out.”

In a statement released last month, a Barnet Council spokesman said: “The council faces a £90 million budget gap by 2020 and a 50 per cent reduction in its spending power by the end of the decade compared with the start.

"This means that we can’t continue with the status quo and we have to look at how local services are designed and delivered, although no decisions have been taken about any alternative delivery arrangements.”

In a further statement today, the council spokesman said: "We do not yet have firm numbers but early indications suggest that around 100 out of around 2,000 staff took part in the strike called by UNISON.  Overall, there was minimal disruption and essential services for residents, such as waste collection, were unaffected.”