GMB Union to march against Wiltshire Council in Salisbury

GMB and other trade unions will be demonstrating against what it describes as "the proposed ‘Fire and Rehire’ of 500 frontline staff by Wiltshire Council". 

There will be a march through the town from 11:30am to midday, which will start from the steps outside Salisbury Library, before a rally with speeches, banners and placards. 

Traffic wardens across Wiltshire will be striking for 24 hours on the same day. 

Wiltshire Council has said that all parking restrictions and car parking charges will remain in place that day, with the possibility of a penalty charge notice being issued.

Wiltshire Council will have staff monitoring its parking sites across the county.

'Cowboy tactic'

Andy Newman, GMB Branch Secretary, said: "Wiltshire Council has resorted to the cowboy tactic, usually associated with only the worst employers, of threatening to sack their own workers to impose a pay cut. 

"The council has been trying since December 2021 to reduce the pay of frontline staff who work unsocial hours, such as social workers, care workers, traffic wardens, leisure centre staff and others. 

"This would result in a pay cut of 10 per cent for most staff but up to 20 per cent for out of hours social workers. 

"Wiltshire Council has previously tried crude divide-and-rule tactics to imply that the trade unions are divided, but all the unions are equally opposed to ‘Fire & Rehire.’ 

“GMB has stuck to the instruction given to us by our members to resist the pay cut, and our members have taken 10 days of strike action. 

"The council is taking a huge risk by going down this road, because it will struggle with recruitment and retention when it gains the reputation for being a bully-boy employer." 

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.”