Escalation of strike action to hit Welsh councils from next week

Unite members at both Wrexham and Cardiff Councils will resume their continuous strike action for a further three-week period from next Monday, in an escalation of their current industrial action.

Unite members at both local authorities will strike from 25 September to 15 October. The new strikes follow two weeks for of industrial action from 4-17 September.

Unite members are taking action after overwhelmingly rejecting the local authority employers’ pay offer of just £1,925, described by the union as “a poorer offer than last year and a real terms pay cut”.

Unite says that members within Welsh Local Authorities work for a wage that is barely above the national minimum wage.

“After enduring years of wage stagnation our members in Cardiff and Wrexham Councils are determined to fight for a better deal,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.

“The political leadership in these councils need to step up, stop hiding behind the national pay body and negotiate locally with us. Unite will be providing our members with its complete support during their strike action”.

Pay cuts

Local authority workers in Wales have seen real terms pay cuts of around 20 per cent over the past decade, according to Unite research, which also says that many of its members are having to resort to food banks to support their families.

The latest round of strike action is expected to have a major impact on refuse collections and recycling centres in both Cardiff and Wrexham.

Peter Hughes, Unite Wales Regional Secretary said; “Welsh Local Authority workers have seen their pay decimated in recent years. Despite this, council leaders think it’s acceptable to propose what amounts to a real terms pay cut, when workers increasingly can’t make ends meet.”

“There has been silence from local authority employers during this strike action. Our members are not backing down and we will now escalate the industrial action until local authorities start negotiating with us.”