UNISON’s local government and school support staff members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be taking one day of strike action on 10th July in support of better pay. The decision was taken following a ‘yes’ vote in a strike ballot.
UNISON West Sussex has announced it intends to organise picket lines at the following County Council buildings on 10th July:
- County Hall, Chichester
- Centenary House, Worthing
- Crawley Library, Crawley
- Durban House, Bognor
- County Hall North, Horsham
- Glebelands, Shoreham
The Branch is calling on its members to support picket lines from 7am. Please get in touch with the Branch office on 01243 777636 or office.unison@westsussex.gov.uk to discuss arrangements.
Local government workers have been condemned to three consecutive years of pay freezes, followed by below-inflation rises in 2013 and 2014, leaving pay reduced by almost 20% since the Coalition came to power.
UNISON General Secretary, Dave Prentis, said: “We have a clear majority for strike action so a one day strike will go ahead on 10 July. We expect to be joined in that action by other unions in local government and will be campaigning amongst our members for maximum support on that day.
“Many of our members are low paid women earning barely above the minimum wage, who care for our children, our elderly and our vulnerable and they deserve better treatment than they have had at the hands of this Government. The employers must get back into talks immediately to avoid a damaging dispute.”
Voting was as follows:
For, 58.7% (49,836)
Against, 41.3% (35,062)
The largest teacher’s union, the NUT, has also announced strike action for July 10th, and further action, coordinated with workers in health, teaching and other parts of the public sector is anticipated in early September if the pay claim is not settled favourably.
Hardship payments
The Branch understands the financial difficulties facing members after years of below-inflation or non-existent pay awards. Therefore the Branch Committee has authorised the funding of industrial action hardship payments to striking members who meet a simple criteria for payment. More information will be sent to members shortly.