Wiltshire Council social workers vote to strike amid 'fire and rehire' plans
Affected staff are faced with losing up to £750 of their monthly pay.
Last updated 8th Jan 2024
Workers at Wiltshire Council faced with losing up to £750 of their monthly salaries have voted to take strike action.
It comes amid plans to 'fire and rehire' staff, in order to remove extra pay during unsocial hours for workers in various front-line roles.
The long-running dispute has already seen traffic wardens take 11 days of strike action, and now social workers, who're GMB members are joining the industrial action.
There are 25 social workers who faces a 20% cut in pay, if plans are approved, with 22 voting to walk out.
The proposals would see only night shifts between 10pm and 6am and Sunday shifts receive higher pay, with no recognition of unsocial shift patterns. There would also be no uplift in pay for early mornings, evenings or Saturdays.
The GMB has accused the Council of 'bully-boy' tactics, saying the council's threat of 'fire and rehire' is unethical.
In a statement, Andy Newman, GMB Branch Secretary said:
“These highly skilled social workers face losing around £500 per month each, and some up to almost £750 per month. Currently that unsocial hours pay is in their contract, and they can take that to the bank.
“Wiltshire Council is proposing a pay cut, with a sugar coating of a 4-year delay in implementation and ‘jam tomorrow’ promises about ‘market supplements’ that could be whipped away as easily as they are given.
“The council is threatening the unethical use of ‘fire and rehire’ to rip up their contracts. These are the bully-boy tactics of a desperate and naïve employer.
“GMB has been fighting this for two years, and traffic wardens have already taken 11 days of strike action. Wiltshire Council can be assured GMB members won't back down to bullying.”
Council still aiming for 'collective agreement'
Wiltshire Council say they're committed to resolving the dispute with their workers, adding that they're disappointed staff have voted to strike.
Terence Herbert, Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council, said: “ We have been notified by the GMB that some staff – in both social worker and non-social worker roles – who support our out of hours Emergency Duty Service and Integrated Front Door have voted to take strike action, however currently no strike dates have been notified to us. We will ensure that we have cover arrangements in place, should this be necessary.
“We are once again disappointed in the action GMB has taken by going down this route, given we remain in consultation and open to collective agreement.
“We remain committed to resolving this long-standing issue and have been working with the unions for over two years to achieve this. The protracted nature of the issue has made this a difficult time for the staff impacted and they are very keen for this to be resolved.
“Throughout this process we have strictly adhered to employment law and always will. We have been seeking to reach collective agreement, but to date the unions have not provided any alternative feasible proposals, although Unison and Unite did previously get a mandate to agree to the proposed changes. It’s important to note there will be no immediate dismissal and offer of re-engagement (also called “fire and re-hire”) despite GMB stating that this will be the approach. Our absolute preference remains to reach collective agreement but if this is not possible then we will seek to reach agreement with staff on an individual basis.
“For the sake of the wellbeing of our staff, and our need to ensure our policies are fit for purpose, we have also been clear that this matter cannot remain unresolved indefinitely. In this time of making best use of public money, the existing terms and conditions are not financially sustainable in their current form and therefore we’re proposing to pay staff for the actual hours they work during unsocial hours, not a flat rate as it is now.
Mr Herbert said that staff wouldn't see their pay changed for four years, as the Council have offered generous pay protection and will ensure salaries remain competitive, as is their policy.
He stressed the council's desire for a collective agreement:
“Our preferred approach to making any changes to terms and conditions is always through collective agreement. Therefore, we have continued consultation with all three unions to outline that we are still willing to consider alternative, reasonable proposals from them that could enable us to achieve this outcome.
“It is in everyone’s best interests that this is resolved as quickly and fairly as possible and we’ll continue to work hard to achieve this.”