THURROCK Council is extremely disappointed at Unite the Union’s plans to extend strike action by a further three weeks from Monday 10 May.
The council has been informed that this extension to strike action, which was expected to end on Friday 7 May, will see all out action covering the three week period by Unite the Union members causing further unnecessary and costly disruption to waste collection services and residents across the borough.
This is especially concerning following a lengthy conciliation meeting held just yesterday afternoon (Thursday, 22 April) between the council and the three recognised Trade Unions (Unite the Union, GMB and Unison), facilitated by The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to seek a resolution to the dispute with Unite and a find a way forward in meeting the shared commitment in the Collective Agreement. The council believed that good progress was made in the meeting with all parties confirming commitment to ongoing talks, this announcement indicates that Unite the Union’s attendance appears to have been wholly disingenuous.
The council will continue to do whatever it can to mitigate the impact of this needless action on its services to Thurrock’s residents.
The council has remained clear that the Pay Review is not reducing salaries and is not delivering savings, staff are continuing to see salaries increasing year on year which, in the majority of cases, will more than balance out any financial impact from changes to allowances.
In total, 188 staff are negatively impacted by the current proposals being consulted on and the council remains committed to compensating all eligible staff negatively impacted overall. There is no intention for any member of staff to lose out financially from the pay review overall.
After the pay review carried out by the council in 2018, a new pay scale was introduced in April 2019 which resulted in 68% of staff receiving pay increases above what they would have received under the old scheme. Due to a large investment in pay, it was agreed with all three Trade Unions that there would subsequently be a review of the benefits and allowances currently paid to staff.
The agreement made by all unions in April 2019, included a council investment of a further £800,000 into pay up front in the first year of the four year pay deal and a commitment to work with the council in the next phase to review ways in which this additional early funding could be off-set through changes to allowances. It is deeply disappointing that this agreement has been reneged on and further disrespected with the extension to strike action today, despite Unite the Union’s public declaration of wishing to negotiate.
Some Trade Unions continue to misinform their members and Thurrock’s residents, presenting inaccurate and misleading information. The council continues to greatly value all of its staff and will continue communicating directly to reassure them and ensure the factual position is clear.
It’s a joke. The only people being affected are the residents that have got full bins. Striking while negotiating should not be allowed. There are plenty of people who would jump at the chance of a job, use them