THREE nights of industrial action and nine picket lines later Plaid led Carmarthenshire County Council were forced to ask for talks and during those talks held earlier this week conceded to the main demands of UNISON, GMB, and Unite members. The harsh reality for the council was that they could not maintain a winter gritting service let alone a safe one without our members.
The council has now agreed to pay Winter Gritters £25 per shift (an increase of £8.00) if they are retained for winter gritting on a weekday.
On the weekend when a shift is longer the employer will pay £40 per shift. On top of this workers will get the agreed overtime rate. It will not be lost on those involved that three nights of action achieved far more than two years of negotiations.
We will now sit down with senior management to get the above clearly put in an agreement. Of course, if this Plaid council had adhered to the agreement in the first place, then we would not have been forced to take the action that we did. What has been agreed will of course have to be taken back to members for them to vote on and we will be a close eye on the council that they do not start backtracking.
We have forced the council to back down because all three unions have worked together and have taken action together. We gave our members a partnership they want and need, a partnership of the unions taken coordinated action together to get an intransigent employer to back down.
This dispute sends a clear message to the Plaid leadership of the council that they cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand hoping the unions and our members will go away and meekly accept how they are being treated.
We asked for the cabinet member for Environmental Services Councillor (Cllr) Hazel Evans to attend the above talks rather than just making comments in the press supporting the council’s stance.
Cllr Evans declined to meet with the unions directly apparently because it was an operational matter but that didn’t prevent Cllr Evans from supporting the council’s stance in the press. Rather than echoing what she is told by management in the press, we would suggest Cllr Evans and her Cabinet colleagues meet with the unions directly if they want to avoid further conflict rather than hearing what we have to say through the filter of senior management.
While it was the action of members that forced the council to concede to our main demands in the main – was also the good turnout on the picket lines was also a crucial factor.
We would like to thank other members, Swansea Trades Council (to whom our branch is affiliated), Rob James Labour opposition group leader of Carmarthenshire County Council, and Socialist students and Socialist party members for showing solidarity and support by attending our picket lines. Also, a key factor in keeping morale high was the support we received from UNISON and other union branches in Wales and the rest of the UK who sent us messages of solidarity and support.
When we have the above in the agreement, we will take what is on offer to our members for them to vote to accept or reject the council’s offer.
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