North Tyneside Council workers set to strike over pay dispute

Members of Unite who are employed by North Tyneside Council are set to begin strike action next month in a dispute over pay.

More than 260 workers have rejected the national pay offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925.

Unite states that the offr is below the rate of inflation and amounts to a real terms pay cut.

North Tyneside Council workers will initially take strike action on Wednesday, September 6, and Wednesday, September 13.

Sharon Graham, the Unite general secretary, has confirmed that the union will be on hand to support those taking strike action at North Tyneside Council.

She said: “Our members provide critical frontline council services.

“Despite the essential roles our members undertake their employer thinks it is acceptable to propose what amounts to yet another real terms pay cut, at a time when they increasingly can’t make ends meet.

“Unite never takes a backward step in supporting its members and is dedicated to enhancing their jobs, pay and conditions.

“Unite will be providing members at North Tyneside with its complete support.”

The strike action is expected to affect services across Council services; however, Unite members are predominantly in building trades, health visitors, school and nursery nurses, admin roles and bereavement services.

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Dave Telford, Unite regional officer, added “The proposed strike action will inevitably cause major disruption to council services but this dispute is a direct result of local government employers failing to value workers and properly reward them for their hard work.”

A total of 23 local authorities across the country have voted for industrial action in the dispute, starting next month and escalating throughout the autumn.