Union leader claims striking Chesterfield council workers have not had real terms pay rate increase for 13 years

Chesterfield-based Unite union members were the first to strike on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, as they and others at councils across England and Wales voted to adopt industrial action after rejecting a pay rise offer of £1,925 for the current financial year from the National Employers body.

Chesterfield and District Trades Union Council – a central regional hub for trade unions and members – stated that the Chesterfield Borough Council workers are essentially striking over the way in which their local bonus pay calculations are made.

Speaking from the Chesterfield strike picket line, Chesterfield and District Trades Union Council President James Eaden said: “It’s a very well supported strike so there is a real powerful sense of grievance about the way this pay structure works in Chesterfield.”

Mr Eaden added: “The bonus scheme may be complex, but the perverse impact of it on this group of workers is strikingly simple. It means that however big a basic pay award may be given to council workers, a Chesterfield housing services worker will receive precisely zero increase in pay…. and [they] have not had any increase in their rates of pay for 13 years.

Unite says these Chesterfield workers’ contracts stated they should receive a salary, including annual pay increases, and then additional bonus payments based on any piece of work undertaken.

However, Unite claims the borough council wants to return to the previous system where any increase in the basic pay is offset by a reduction in the money they received for their bonus work.

Unite claims the “piece” bonus work rates have not been increased since 2008 and the workers claim that the “piece” work rates are well below market value and they are having to work harder to secure a living wage.

Those involved in the strike include around 100 staff based at Chesterfield Borough Council’s Stonegravels Depot for the housing property services department which carries out repairs, maintenance and improvements to council tenants’ homes, according to the council.

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.

But around 3,000 Unite members at local authorities in England and Wales now reportedly also aim to strike during September after they voted to reject the pay offer.

GMB and UNISON members have also reportedly rejected the offer earlier this year.

Unite regional representative officer Paula Stephens, who joined Chesterfield strikers on the picket line demonstration, said there has been a good turnout and there appeared to be a lot of local support from passers-by.

She added: “I have been around all the members here today and everyone is strong in their support that the council needs to change the way this production bonus is paid out.”

Ms Stephens said: “They are not paid a fair wage and that is all they are asking for – a fair wage. They are asking for a fair wage for their trade and they are asking for that to be paid at a level their colleagues are being paid in surrounding areas.”

National Employers Secretary Naomi Cooke stated that the National Employers body believes its full and final offer is fair in the current circumstances.

But Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said it was “outrageous” that Unite union members have been denied a pay increase for so long and she has found it “astonishing” after she claimed Chesterfield Borough Council has not acted upon the information presented.

Councillor Gavin Baldauf-Good, cabinet member for customers and business transformation, said the council pays its employees from its own budgets and efforts have been made to reach the right balance between what councils can afford and the need to deliver a fair pay rise while dealing with high inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

The council recently announced budget shortfalls which currently stand at £2.5m for 2024/25, rising to an expected £3.4m in 2026/27, after financial pressures following the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and high inflation rates which may mean reducing the workforce and some services.

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.