WILTSHIRE traffic wardens will be stiking across the county again on 4th November, but Wiltshire Council are warning motorists that all parking restrictions will remain in place, including car parking charges and enforcement - saying they will have staff monitoring its parking sites.
GMB, the union for Wiltshire Council say they have issued further strike action for traffic wardens over their employer’s controversial ‘fire and rehire’ plans.
Wiltshire traffic wardens took ten days of action in 2022, before suspending the dispute when the employer agreed to shelve plans to cut their pay by up to 20 per cent.
David McMullen, GMB Regional Organiser said: “Our members took strike action last year to demand the council remove the threat of fire and rehire, and yet here we are again a year later.
“These are key workers within the council - traffic wardens, social workers and the like – whose jobs keep the county running and who cannot afford to lose 20 per cent of their wages.
“Last year the traffic warden strike in the run up to Christmas caused traffic chaos on the streets all over the county.
“Unless Wiltshire Council remove the threat of fire and rehire, we have to presume the same will happen again this year.”
Wiltshire Council have said the industrial action relates to proposals to make changes to the council's current unsocial, standby and callout policies adding that since December 2021, they have been consulting with UNISON, Unite the Union and GMB regarding changes to some terms and conditions. They say the council needs to make these changes to ensure policies are standardised, fit for purpose, financially viable and support the delivery of its Business Plan, while ensuring staff are fairly and appropriately rewarded.
In August 2022, following working group meetings with the unions, the council put forward amended proposals, including an offer of four years' pay protection for staff who would be impacted by the proposed changes to the unsocial hours policy. The unions balloted their members on the proposal, which resulted in Unison and Unite the Union receiving a mandate from their members to agree to the changes; however, GMB members did not agree. Since then, the council had been engaged with GMB in a process of dispute resolution, which has been facilitated by ACAS, but this ended without a resolution being found.
Terence Herbert, Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council, said: While the strike is being held on 4 November, car park users should continue to pay for parking as normal, as all charges and restrictions remain in place and we will have staff monitoring the sites.
We recognise the rights of GMB members to strike at this time, but do not feel that this action will help to move us forward to a resolution to this matter.
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. The existing terms and conditions are not financially sustainable in their current form.
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 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 the unions 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. We remain open to alternative proposals from the unions that meet our business objectives. We have been speaking to affected staff to provide them with all the information they need, and will continue to do so.
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."
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