Unite members in an initial 23 local authorities will begin taking strike action from next week after rejecting the National Employers’ £1,925 pay increase offer.
The union called out a “dismissive and patronising” letter from local authority employers in which they were said to be “refusing to even enter into negotiations” while stating their initial offer was “full and final”.
The first industrial action will take place at Chesterfield Borough Council, with Unite members striking on 29 and 30 August. Other councils with industrial action mandates will then strike throughout September.
The other English councils involved are: Bath and North East Somerset, Coventry, Cumberland, Darlington, Haringey, Ipswich, Newham, North Tyneside, Tower Hamlets, Truro, Sefton, Southwark, Warrington, Westminster and Wigan.
The Welsh councils striking are: Cardiff, Cynon Valley Waste, Gwynedd and Wrexham.
Tamar Bridge and Ferry Port, Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence and Derby Homes, whose workers are subject to local government pay, also voted in favour of strikes.
Unite said that following the initial September strikes, industrial action would “escalate” throughout the autumn, “with coordinated action, longer periods of strikes and more members joining the dispute”.
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Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, said: “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.
“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.”
Clare Keogh, Unite’s national officer, commented: “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.
“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.”
Unite said a survey it had conducted with members in local authorities earlier this summer showed that 30% had struggled to afford food and clothing while 23% were skipping meals to save money. Some 48% have struggled to afford heating, electricity and water bills, according to the Unite survey, while 17% have struggled to meet rent and mortgage payments and 6% have been forced to use food banks.
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