Over 100 Chesterfield Borough Council workers go on strike over pay

The workers are the first among Unite union members across England and Wales to have taken strike action on Tuesday, August 29, and Wednesday, August 30, after rejecting a pay rise offer for the current financial year.

Unite members at other local authorities in England and Wales also aim to strike during September.

The National Employers body, which sets pay deals for local authority employees, made a pay rise offer of £1,925 to run from April this year but after this was rejected by union members, Unite announced plans for industrial strike action.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite does what it says on the trade union tin and always puts jobs, pay and conditions of its members first. The workers at Chesterfield council will receive the union’s complete support.”

The Unite union members voted to strike over the national pay offer and according to Chesterfield Borough Council its workers are also striking over the way in which local bonus pay calculations are made.

Those involved include staff at Chesterfield Borough Council’s Stonegravels Depot who work for the housing property services department carrying out repairs, maintenance and improvements to council tenants’ homes.

Unite claims these workers discovered their contracts stated they should receive both a salary, including annual pay increases, and then additional payments based on any piece of work undertaken.

However, Unite claims Chesterfield Borough Council wants to return to the previous system where any increase in the basic pay such as an annual pay increase is offset by a reduction in the money they received for their “piece” work.

The “piece” work rates have not been increased since 2008, according to Unite, and the workers claim that the “piece” work rates are 70 per cent below market value and they are having to work harder to earn a living.

The National Employers body originally offered a £1,925 pay increase to start from April 1 this year which equated to a 3.88per cent pay rise for employees on pay levels above the top end of the pay chart, according to the Local Government Association.

The LGA claimed that if the offer was accepted, an employee on the bottom pay point in April 2021, earning £18,333, will have received a 22per cent increase of £4,033 over the two years to April 2023, and an employee at the mid-point of the pay chart will have received an increase over the same period of 13.99per cent or £3,850.

However, Unite members voted to reject the pay offer and GMB and UNISON members also reportedly rejected the offer earlier this year.

National Employers Secretary Naomi Cooke has stated in correspondence to the unions that she believes the pay award should not be subject to delays because of the cost-of-living pressures.

Ms Cooke added that the National Employers body believes its full and final offer is fair in the current circumstance.

Unite regional officer Paula Stephens said: “The strike action will inevitably result in delays to repairs and maintenance to tenants’ homes and emergency call outs won’t be answered.

“But this dispute is entirely of Chesterfield council’s own making. It has had every opportunity to resolve this dispute through negotiation but it has failed to do so.”

Chesterfield Borough Council stated that it has put in place contingency plans to limit the impact of the planned industrial action after around 100 Unite members on its workforce announced they were going on strike.

Councillor Gavin Baldauf-Good, cabinet member for customers and business transformation, said he was disappointed about the industrial action but the council was committed to finding a resolution and that emergency council house repairs and call-outs to elderly and vulnerable tenants had been prioritised over other services during the strike.

He added: “Chesterfield Borough Council is one of 300 plus councils that pay their staff in accordance with National Joint Council pay rates.

“These are negotiated at a national level and on an annual basis by the NJC for Local Government services, which is made up of representatives from the employer side and the three recognised trade unons, UNISON, GMB and the Unite union.

“Chesterfield Borough Council does exercise its voice in informing the National Employers side through its membership of the Local Government Association and East Midlands Councils ahead of the annual NJC pay bargaining process and it is evident from the National Employers’ regular communications to member councils that for the current financial year the employer side has sought to strike the right balance between what councils can afford and the need to deliver a fair pay rise that goes some way to supporting Local Government workers to deal with high inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

“It is the case that Chesterfield Borough Council pays its emplyees from its own budgets.”

Chesterfield Borough Council, like many local authorities, has struggled under financial pressures after the Covid-19 pandemic and during the current cost-of-living crisis with high inflation rates.

It recently announced budget shortfalls which currently stand at £2.5m for 2024/25, rising to an expected £3.4m in 2026/27.

The English councils which secured a mandate for strike action include: Chesterfield, Bath and North East Somerset, Coventry, Cumberland, Darlington, Haringey, Ipswich, Newham, North Tyneside, Tower Hamlets, Truro, Sefton, Southwark, Warrington, Westminster and Wigan.

Welsh councils who are also part of the industrial action campaign include: Cardiff, Cynon Valley Waste, Gwynedd and Wrexham. Also workers and union members at other organisations subject to Local Government pay have also voted in favour of strike action and include: Tamar Bridge and Ferry Port, Greater Manchester Fire and Civil Defence and Derby Homes.