GMB members employed by Serco in Mid Sussex will no longer go on strike on Tuesday (14 October), following new pay proposals put forward by the Local Government Association (LGA).
The Serco staff – employed under Mid-Sussex District Council’s refuse, recycling, and street cleansing contract – had announced last week that they would strike on 14 October over ‘poor pay rises’.
The staff has been offered a pay rise of one per cent through the Employers National Joint Council (NJC) pay negotiating body, but GMB said it was seeking a pay offer above inflation (currently around 1.5 per cent) ‘in recognition of the continuous good work and high service delivery standard carried out by staff’.
However, new proposals covering the period 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2016 will now be sent out to GMB members – along with members of the unions UNION and UNITE (who were also scheduled to strike in local government and schools) – for consultation.
They include:
- a 2.2 per cent increase on Spinal Column Points (SCPs) 11 and above (£14,880 and over)
- a new minimum hourly rate at SCP5 of £7 per hour, rising to £7.06 per hour on 1 October 2015 by the deletion of SCP5
- non-consolidated lump sum payments of between £100 and £325 on all SCPs.
After receiving the new pay proposals, Brian Strutton, GMB National Secretary for Public Services, said: “It has proved extremely difficult to persuade the local government employers to agree new pay proposals for us to consult our members on.
“But now we have an agreed set of new proposals which we will consult on and while doing that GMB is suspending the strike planned for 14 October. We will issue more details about the consultation shortly."
Responding to the announcement of the cancellation of next week's strike, an LGA spokesman said: "Unison, GMB and Unite have made the right decision in calling off the strike planned for next week.
"It is good news for our employees and for the millions who rely on the services which local government provides, and now gives the employers and the unions time to seek views on the proposals."
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How will the government and DMOs address the challenges of including glass in DRS while ensuring a level playing field across the UK?
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