WREXHAM Council workers are set to strike next month in a dispute over pay.

Unite the union has announced that its members in an initial 23 local authorities across England and Wales, including Wrexham Council, are to take strike action over pay in the next few weeks.

Unite members have overwhelmingly rejected the local authority employers’ pay offer of £1,925 - a poorer offer than last year. 

Unite members who work for Wrexham Council (except those working in schools) will take strike action throughout September.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Council workers are on the frontline providing vital services to the communities they serve. It is simply unacceptable that workers have been forced onto the breadline due to years of real terms pay cuts.

“Unite never takes a backward step in supporting its members and is dedicated to enhancing their jobs, pay and conditions. Unite will be providing its local authority members with its complete support.”

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A survey of Unite members in local authorities, earlier this summer, highlighted how years of pay freezes and below inflation pay deals has resulted in workers facing desperate financial choices. The survey found:

  • Nearly half (48 per cent) have struggled to afford heating, electricity and water bills 
  • 30 per cent have struggled to afford food and clothing
  • Almost a quarter (23 per cent) are skipping meals to save money
  • 17 per cent have struggled to meet rent and mortgage payments
  • Six per cent have been forced to use food banks

Following the initial September strikes, Unite said it will be escalating the industrial action throughout the autumn, with coordinated action, longer periods of strikes and more members joining the dispute.

A Wrexham Council spokesperson said: "The council was notified on August 18 that Unite intended to take industrial action as they had met the legal threshold. This arises out of the NJC national pay negotiations and this is not unique to Wrexham, Unite previously published the list of other councils. 

"The council has preparations underway to consider the impact on specific services with Unite members. Due to the numbers involved, we expect this to be isolated in those services with a higher proportion of members, at this stage we don’t know the full impact as work continues to assess this and further updates will be provided."