Unison Harrogate canvasses election candidates over ‘shameful’ council pay

Unison in Harrogate is to write to next month’s local election candidates to find out their stance on local government pay.

Davie Houlgate, secretary of the Harrogate local government branch, said the union was looking to lodge a pay claim for the 2022/23 financial year.

The move comes after Unison’s attempt to call a strike in January over a 1.75% pay offer in the previous year failed because not enough members turned out to vote.

The trade union had branded the pay offer ‘derisory’.

The offer followed a national consultation by the Local Government Association, which is the national membership body for local authorities, over a pay increase.

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Mr Houlgate said the union was now considering another pay claim because the cost of living crisis is “squeezing” workers’ pay packets.

He added that officials will be writing to candidates ahead of the election in North Yorkshire on May 5 to find out their stance on the issue.

Mr Houlgate said:

“Local government pay must be increased to match the cost of living squeeze our members are now experiencing on the back of year-on-year below inflation pay increases.

“Without a decent above-inflation pay rise to help workers meet soaring costs, vital council services will struggle to hang on to skilled staff which could put some services at risk. Indeed this is already happening.

“Council workers need an above inflation pay rise, simply to try to catch-up with what they have lost in real terms over the past decade – a 25% pay cut. But it is more imperative than ever as a result of the cost-of living crisis we are now in.

“The situation is unsustainable and cannot go on.”

He added:

“We need to know if candidates have any idea of the enormity of the problems faced by council staff.  

“It’s shameful that people that make our towns and villages so attractive or do high skilled, essential and much-valued jobs on which everyone depends, don’t get paid enough to meet their basic costs.”

Harrogate council HQ ‘like the Mary Celeste’, says councillor

A councillor has compared Harrogate Borough Council‘s headquarters at Knapping Mount to the abandoned ghost ship the Mary Celeste, due to the number of staff still working from home.

The multi-million-pound Civic Centre opened in 2017 and can accommodate up to 500 council workers. However, the council is still encouraging many staff to work from home despite lockdown restrictions being removed.

Nick Brown, the Conservative councillor for Bishop Monkton and Newby, told the Stray Ferret yesterday that he was unsatisfied with the response of Conservative council leader Richard Cooper to a question he asked at a council meeting last week.

Cllr Cooper said decisions about working practices should be made by senior officers rather than councillors.

Cllr Brown told the Stray Ferret:

“We councillors agreed to spend £13m on a new Civic Centre, opened in 2017, for officers to work in. Yet the leader now tells us that it is not members’ business to require council officers to work there.

“Prior to the covid pandemic, the Civic Centre was a busy place where I as a councillor could find the officers that I wished to speak to. Now it is like the Mary Celeste!”.

Cllr Brown believes ending the work from home policy would “benefit the local economy”.

He added:

“Our Conservative Prime Minister has given a clear message to end working from home in the public sector, in order to boost the economy.

“As a Conservative-led council, I believe we should get officers back at their desks and using the Civic Centre.”

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The public sector workers union Unison said it “broadly supports” the council’s decision to allow staff to work from home.

David Houlgate, branch secretary for the Harrogate district, told the Stray Ferret council staff proved during the pandemic they can work from home effectively.

He added:

“We believe the government’s Living with Covid strategy to scrap all remaining covid rules in England was reckless.

“So we broadly support this cautious approach taken by Harrogate Borough Council about returning to the Civic Centre at this time.

“Staff have demonstrated over a two-year period that they can deliver vital public services whether or not they are in the office or working from home.

“We’re confident that that can continue, though poor pay does present an ever increasing risk.”

‘Agile working’

The Stray Ferret has asked the council for the number of staff currently working from home who would normally be in the Civic Centre.

A council spokesperson said:

“Following the updated guidance in relation to the end of Plan B measures, staff are permitted to work from the office should they wish to or are required to do so.

“The number of staff using said office(s) differs day-by-day so it would be difficult to provide a comprehensive figure. Staff also come and go from the office depending on their job role; housing and planning officers for example.

“And while covid has seen a significant increase in staff working from home – and rightly so – many staff were already doing so. The civic centre was designed in such a way that staff could hybrid work or ‘hot desk’ if they so wished.

“Agile working is something adopted by many local authorities and companies long before covid and is one of the many benefits of working for Harrogate Borough Council.”

 

Unison in Harrogate ballots council staff over ‘derisory’ pay offer

The Harrogate Borough Council branch of Unison is holding a consultative ballot with members in local government over whether to accept a “derisory” pay offer.

The trade union is recommending members reject the offer, which could lead to another ballot on whether to take industrial action.

Unison is balloting members at Harrogate Borough Council, its new council-owned leisure company Brimhams Active and Ripon City Council.

School staff will be balloted separately by the North Yorkshire Local Government branch of Unison.

Dave Houlgate, Unison’s Harrogate branch secretary,  said:

“Council and school workers have been offered a 1.75% pay rise with those on the very lowest pay point being offered 2.75%.

“This is yet another derisory offer which will only compound the local government recruitment and retention crisis and increase the demand for in-work benefit support.

“The fact is that with inflation at 3.8% this is another real-terms pay cut and comes on the back of local government pay having fallen by a quarter since 2010.

“This is a shocking way to treat staff who went above and beyond during the pandemic, kept communities safe, supported businesses, cared for the most vulnerable and ensured schools remained open throughout successive lockdowns.”

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Mr Houlgate added women make up the majority of local government employees, and were among the lowest paid in the country. He added:

“It’s time they and the services they provide were properly recognised. Pats on the back and the occasional well done don’t pay bills or feed families.”

“No one wants to take industrial action but sometimes it does become necessary and that may be the case this time.”

The consultation ballot ends on 24th September.

Harrogate Borough Council has been approached for comment.