Improving our repairs service
A council spokesperson said: “After 13 years of government austerity, the Council’s budget has been cut to the bone and we owe it to our residents to regularly assess how we can best deliver for our communities and protect frontline services. For that reason, we've reviewed the wage structure of some repairs staff who, in some cases, due to a complicated and historic bonus arrangement, have salaries well above industry average - even upwards of £100,000.
“The Council is committed to continuing to engage with unions. Following months of dialogue, we proposed a new structure which delivers better value for money for our tenants, while still appropriately reflecting the work that our staff carry out. Unfortunately, at a point where we felt negotiations were nearing a reasonable resolution, we were met with a last-minute rejection and counter offer of a £60,000 lump sum per employee, on top of above average wages.
“This offer is unreasonable, unaffordable and frankly unrealistic – and unfair on staff who have engaged in productive conversations to this point and deserve clarity.
“While we respect the union’s right to ballot for strike action, we would very much welcome a return to reasonable discussions. In the meantime we have all the appropriate resources in place to carry out essential repairs for our tenants.”
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Why we're reviewing our wage structure
- We're improving our repairs service so it's better for council tenants.
- We have a responsibility to tenants to regularly review our service's value for money.
- The repairs service will cost less and be more efficient.
- Our reasonable proposal would bring wages in line with the top of industry standard.
- We have negotiated with unions, in good faith, for the last six months.
- An agreement still hasn't been reached and some staff are striking.
- We will still be able to deal with any emergencies.
- Any missed repairs will be carried out as soon as possible.
- We are ready if unions would like to return to discussions.