Strikes: Council ‘will not accept inappropriate ways of handling partnership working and discussions’

Wrexham Council appear deeply unhappy over this article on Wrexham.com earlier today that included a copy of an open letter to all councillors from Unite.

The letter invited all councillors to two meetings next week, as well as referencing  the council’s Chief Executive Ian Bancroft taking up an offer of a speaking engagement in North America. This morning some councillors have made a point of stating they will be attending the meeting(s) on Monday / Tuesday.

The information made public also pointedly said ‘hid behind a narrative that this is a national dispute and there is nothing they could do’, with a focus on national pay deals in the council’s responses to queries.

We asked Wrexham Council if there was a further meeting due today, and invited comment around the union claim that the council have apparently removed work around the winter programme, and asked why that happened.

The council have issued a lengthy statement, with elements of the ‘offer’ section matching lines in a copy made public on social media earlier this week.

Wrexham Council is hugely disappointed that Unite broke the agreement about keeping ongoing discussions between the Council and Unite positive before a response had been received from Unite to the formal offers to end the strike made by the Council on Wednesday (October 11). Information has been sent out by Unite which has been printed in the press which criticises the ongoing constructive discussions.

After a series of meetings over the last fortnight with Unite representatives involving the Chief Executive, Leader of the Council, relevant Chief Officers and Human Resource staff, the Council on Wednesday – having listened to the concerns – made a number of offers (listed below but subject to change). These did not break the agreed process for national pay negotiations, but included items that the Council was in a position to consider under delegated authority.

In fact the Council was one of a number of local authorities that also lobbied for further positive considerations to be taken into the national pay negotiations, and this has been recognised by the lead negotiating body.

The agreed process with Unite was for a response to be received by the end of Thursday (October 12) and then if required a further meeting to take place today (Friday, October 13) to try and resolve the situation.

The Council will continue to work hard to seek a resolution to this, support employees and deliver public services, but will not accept inappropriate ways of handling partnership working and discussions. The aim is that after receiving a written response from Unite, which may well amend the already tabled offer, further discussions will take place next week.

Offers made by the Council in writing following the meeting on Wednesday:

• A review of post holders in Streetscene 1
• Christmas shutdown for Streetscene, and this links to the following bullet point…
• Bank holiday working schedule for 2024
• To review call out/standby arrangements/working practices (Housing)
• To review arrangements for working time – vehicle checks/practices
• Wider Corporate review of how flexi time is accrued and managed
• Commit to review of local pay scales when national minimum wage changes, linking to national pay changes

Unite also added:

• Allow striking members to get the full NJC annual pay award value of £1,925p.a. once agreed, and requested that the Council does not deduct annual leave pro rata entitlement due to loss of service.

National pay offer details

The strike by Unite members in Wrexham has arisen out of the NJC national pay dispute. Pay for council employees is negotiated at a national level between the three trade unions – Unite, GMB and Unison – and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), as well as the UK Local Government Association (LGA).

The final pay increase offer, effective from 1 April 2023, is £1,925 (pro-rata for part time employees) – to be paid as a consolidated permanent addition on all NJC pay points up to point 43, and an increase of 3.88% on pay points above this. This means those on lower pay grades would get an increase of approximately 8%-9%. In the previous year the award was also £1,925 across all spinal points.

The national employers body – which includes the WLGA and LGA – is urging unions to accept this pay offer so council workers can see this money in their pay packets as soon as possible.

Earlier this week the council announced that those who pay to have their garden waste emptied will have their subscription extended to February 2025, while warning that garden waste collections may not take place until next February as it manages resources for the winter months. ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌‌​​‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​​‌‌​‍‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌​‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌‌‍‌​​‌​‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌​​‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​​‌‌​​