Social workers in Swindon to strike every weekend until January
The strike will close down the Emergency Duty Service.
Social workers in Swindon belonging to the GMB union are to strike every weekend until January.
The strike will close down the Emergency Duty Service, which offers out of hours support for crisis situations.
The union is blaming the dispute on Swindon Borough Council removing a £700 per month uplift to their salaries for working unsocial hours.
Andy Newman, GMB Branch Secretary said:
“GMB have bent over backwards to offer solutions but been rebuffed, we have on more than one occasion proposed using ACAS for dispute resolution but had no response to that from the council.
“The council don’t seem to realise how serious this is, however GMB understands that during the strikes there will be no Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) on duty at the council, which means that it will be failing in its statutory duty.
“These problems were caused by decisions made under the previous Conservative administration of the council and we have every sympathy for the Labour administration who have come in and inherited the mess.
“However, the time for action is now, and Swindon Borough Council needs to get its act together, provide holiday cover for their negotiators and seek solutions.”
In a statement, Swindon Council say they are "keen to keep negotiating to avoid a strike".