Unison members at Harrogate Borough Council have overwhelmingly rejected the employer’s pay offer of 1.75% (2.75% for the very lowest paid).
73.8% voted to reject the offer on a turnout 61.6% of eligible members.
Speaking for Unison, Branch secretary Dave Houlgate said it was little surprise:
Staff are worn down after years of real-terms pay cuts and with inflation at nearly 4%.
Despite this they’ve continued to go above and beyond during the pandemic in providing much needed services to support residents and businesses alike in the District.
There has still been no formal public recognition for their efforts from the Council but to be clear, Unison is in no doubt that Council staff have been fantastic over the past 18 months or so and at the very least deserve a decent pay rise for once.
The Branch now awaits the outcome of the consultation ballot result for the whole of England and Wales, which will determine what happens next, which could include a further ballot for industrial action.
Unison at Harrogate has also lodged a formal dispute over what it calls ‘the cost of working’; seeking financial help for staff in the cost of running Council services from unison is still awaiting notification of the committee’s decision.
