Council strikes confirmed

(27/06/08) UNISON’s industrial action committee has today confirmed that local government strike action will go ahead on 16 and 17 July in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. "Throughout the union and across the country our members working in local government have given sustained strike action the green light," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis.The action affects 600,000 of the union’s local government members, including social workers, librarians, school meals workers, refuse collectors, surveyors and teaching assistants.They will walk out to protest this year’s below-inflation pay offer of 2.45%. "This decision has not been taken lightly, but years of pay cuts and recent hikes in fuel, food and housing costs has left them with little choice," Mr Prentis continued."The employers must realise that we mean business. They must also understand they can resolve this dispute by coming up with a decent offer. Our members are loyal public service workers and our case for fair pay is strong."The government’s Office of National Statistics’ own figures show that Retail Price Index inflation reached 4.3% in May. In the same month, the CPI measure of inflation, which the government uses to set its inflation target, hit 3.3%
Local government workers in Scotland are being balloted in July on taking strike action after rejecting a three-year offer worth 2.5% in each year.