Unite has announced its members in four Welsh councils will go on strike after rejecting a flat rate pay offer of £1,925.
By Ka Long Tung
The union said it was a poorer offer than last year, despite the cost of living crisis having worsened for its members.
“Council workers are on the frontline providing vital services to the communities they serve. It is simply unacceptable that workers have been forced onto the breadline due to years of real terms pay cuts,” said Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary.
The Welsh councils that will see workers striking in September are Cardiff, Cynon Valley Waste, Gwynedd and Wrexham.
Workers in Cardiff and Wrexham will go on strike for two weeks starting from 4th September.
During the two-week industrial action, household waste will not be collected – the area where Unite is strongest. Other council services being affected.
“We call on the NJC (National Joint Council) to get back to the negotiating table and give our members the fair and decent pay rise that they deserve,” Unite Wales wrote on X, the social media formerly known as Twitter.
Unite has not announced the strike dates in Cynon Valley Waste and Gwynedd but said that local councils with industrial action mandates will strike throughout September.
In total, Unite members in 23 local authorities across Wales and England broke the minimum turnout threshold required to take lawful industrial action. The results followed the strike ballot held between 13 June to 28 July.
Other unions, including UNISON, also balloted for action but failed to get a 50% turnout, despite the majority of those voting having backed strikes. GMB are yet to announce the results of their ballot.
Unite members at Chesterfield council, who will strike next Wednesday and Thursday (30th and 31st August) will be the first to take industrial action.
The union said it would escalate the strikes throughout the autumn, with coordinated action, longer periods of strikes and more members joining the dispute.
“Unite never takes a backward step in supporting its members and is dedicated to enhancing their jobs, pay and conditions. Unite will be providing its local authority members with its complete support,” said Graham.
According to Unite’s calculation prior to the ballots, an increase of £1,925 on all pay points, that the employers offered, would mean a pay rise of between four per cent and nine per cent. But in terms of real-term pay, it would translate to a pay cut for all council workers.
A survey by Unite in June suggested that council workers were struggling amidst the cost of living crisis. 48 per cent of the over 1,4000 members had struggled to afford heating, electricity and water bills.
About a quarter (23 per cent) were skipping meals to save money as 30 per cent had struggled to afford food and clothing.
Unite said that local authority employers refused to enter into negotiations by claiming the initial offer as “full and final”.
“The dismissive and patronising response from local authority employers has resulted in tensions in the dispute dramatically increasing. Workers simply can’t make ends meet, yet employers are ignoring their plight,” said Unite national officer Clare Keogh.
“Local government employers need to get their heads out of the clouds and return to the negotiating table, to make an offer which begins to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.”
Workers that will take strike action in English councils include: Bath and North East Somerset, Chesterfield, Coventry, Cumberland, Darlington, Haringey, Ipswich, Newham, North Tyneside, Tower Hamlets, Truro, Sefton, Southwark, Warrington, Westminster and Wigan.
In addition, Tamar Bridge and Ferry Port, Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence and Derby Homes, whose workers are subject to local government pay, will also be part of the pay rise campaign.
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