Unite members who work in the street scene operation team at Wrexham Council will strike from this month in a dispute over working patterns and reduced salary.

Street scene operators include refuse workers as well as those working on parks, gardens and highways. The dispute comes after Wrexham council changed the way workers in this team were given overtime.

Previously, staff in this team were given additional days off over Christmas and can volunteer to work overtime. However, the council has since forced through changes without any consultation with workers or Unite, which means they now have to compulsorily work Saturdays and are threatened with disciplinary action if they do not attend. The council’s new interim chief executive, Alywn Jones, has also failed to engage with Unite following an initial meeting to resolve the dispute.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "No worker should ever be expected to accept forced-through changes to their working patterns or to lose out on hard-earned pay.

"Wrexham Council has behaved disgracefully and any industrial action is completely their fault. Unite will always fully support our members who are looking to protect their pay and workplace conditions all the way."

Unite believe this is a choice by the employer to extend the working week without agreement. It means every worker would lose half a day's pay every bank holiday.

The changes implemented by Wrexham Council will also see Unite members’ pay reduced for overtime without agreement with workers or any negotiations with the union. The affected workers have already endured years of below inflation pay rises as well as this year's below-inflation offer to local authority workers of 3.2 per cent which will be almost wiped out due to the changes.

Meanwhile, all seven chief officers at Wrexham Council are paid over £100,000 a year while the lowest paid workers on the street scene operation team earn £25,583. Losses incurred from the changes to working patterns mean this year’s local authority pay rise is worth a third less in real terms to these members.

After 71 per cent of the around 100 affected members in the dispute voted to take action, strikes will take place on 23 and 30 August, 6, 13, 20 and 27 September, 4, 11, 18, and 25 October and 1, 8 and 14 November, while an overtime ban will also be in place during this time. Should the dispute remain unresolved, Unite members are also considering further action to take place over Christmas, when households usually have more rubbish needing to be removed than usual.

Unite regional officer Simon Ellis said: "We know residents of Wrexham will be concerned about bin strikes, but this is completely the fault of the local council and their unacceptable behaviour towards their staff.

 "Our hardworking members are not asking for extra pay, this dispute is all about protecting their agreed overtime renumeration and working hours. Wrexham Council cannot keep targeting lower paid staff and must roll back on these unfair plans and come back to the table."

ENDS

Notes to editors

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Email: natasha.wynarczyk@unitetheunion.org