Wiltshire traffic wardens vote unanimously for strike action
"Wiltshire Council is drinking at the last chance saloon"
Traffic wardens in Wiltshire have voted unanimously for strike action, over a potential pay cut.
Civil enforcement officers part of the GMB Union have chosen industrial action as Wiltshire Council proposed a pay cut for all staff working unsocial hours.
It means traffic wardens would lose about £2,000 per year.
The GMB is now consulting its members about potential future strike dates.
Keith Roberts, GMB Regional Organiser said:
“The very high turnout and unanimous vote for strike action shows the strength of feeling among our members.
“After the national insurance increase, they have already noticed a drop in take home pay this month - everyone is struggling with increased fuel bills, and inflation in the shops. They simply cannot afford a drop in pay.
“Wiltshire Council is drinking at the last chance saloon and need to act quickly if they want to prevent a strike that will cause parking chaos and lost revenue.
“The civil enforcement officers have voted for strike action, but other groups of workers are just as concerned. Feelings are running very high among social workers as well.
“Following an earlier rejection of the proposals by GMB, the pay cut for frontline workers which the council hoped to introduce in April was paused, but Wiltshire Council has not taken it off the table.
“GMB members are demanding that the proposed pay cut is completely withdrawn. Putting a pretty bow on it won’t fool our members.”
The civil enforcement officers voted 100% in favour of industrial action, with a 92% turnout.
Terence Herbert, Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council, said:
“We respect people’s rights to carry out industrial action, however it’s disappointing that GMB are choosing to go down this route as we are currently engaged with them and the other recognised unions as part of a working group to find a solution to the issues that have been raised by staff about the proposals.
“We will continue to hold working group meetings, with another scheduled next week, to look at the proposals in a productive way so that we can recommence consultation on those as soon as possible, as it’s not in anyone’s best interests that this process is protracted any longer that it needs to be.
“To clarify, nobody’s salary is being cut or will change – we are reviewing specific proposals related to unsocial hours, standby and call out policies.
“If this industrial action does take place then we have contingency plans in place to mitigate the impact.”