Council ask union to call off strike that is set to be extended until 24th November

Wrexham Council have said they are asking Unite to call off strikes.

Unite are set to extend the local strike, that was set to end on the 13th, but will continue until the 24th of November.

Unite say members have “overwhelmingly rejected the local authority employers pay offer of just £1,925, a poorer offer than last year and a real terms pay cut, many Unite members within Welsh Local Authorities work for a wage that is barely above the national minimum wage”.

Now, Wrexham Council have issued a long set of bulletpoints ahead of strike discussions and further strike action taking place this week in a move that was described as ‘to ensure the facts were understood by the public, councillors and employees’.

The points published by WCBC are:

• Unite asked Wrexham Council to listen to their issues.
• As a result, a formal meeting and individual meetings to listen to Unite have been arranged this week.
• After agreeing to these meetings but before meeting, Unite have put in place a further 5 weeks industrial action. This action feels like individual trade union representatives are not acting in the interests of Council employees.
• The Council announced it was facing a £23m financial pressure this year in part due to national pay rises not being funded by national governments.
• In spite of this and because the Council recognises the pressures employees are under in a cost of living crises, the Council locally put an extra £600k into supporting improvements in (additional) local pay for employees, including removal of lower pay grades in previous years. This was agreed as part of the Council’s budget setting process in February of this year, and will be in pay packets for the first time in October.
• The national pay offer this year is currently £1,925 which is approximately an 8-9 percent increase for those on lower pay grades.
• The Council has also improved the annual salary for trades staff in housing through the move from Red to Green book terms and conditions, which was a further additional £400k cost this year, and will also receive the benefit of the wider change in October.
• For next year the Council faces a budget forecast that could see a further gap and pressure of £20m.
• If the Council were to agree outside of normal negotiation processes to a further change to local pay and conditions before national pay negotiations for this year are concluded, this £23m plus £20m pressure totalling £43m at present would increase further, and will also mean the Council is negotiating outside of agreed social partnerships with all three trade unions.
• The only way the Council can address this gap is to cut services and lose jobs across all services in the Council, as otherwise it won’t be able to fund these pressures in any other way.
• Meetings were arranged this week to listen to Unite’s concerns and to discuss how to balance loss of jobs with pay increases. However, it is clear Unite are not prepared to discuss or listen given the announcement of strikes before these discussions.
• The Council asks Unite to discuss and listen by: concluding national pay negotiations properly, entering into local discussions through recognised processes, and calling off the proposed further 5 weeks strike until both these processes are completed.
• The Council is prepared to listen to the difficult issues employees and the Council as a whole faces, as are other trade unions who are meeting without or in advance of any industrial action. Why is Unite not prepared to do this?

Unite Wales have not responded to request for their statement, however below is a copy of a leaflet local members are circulating and you may have had through your door: