Cumbria council workers to vote on strike action over pay
Council workers across Cumbria are set to vote on whether to take strike action in a dispute over pay.
Members of the Unite union employed by Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council will take part in the ballot.
The vote will open on July 16 and close on August 17. A vote in favour would give the union a legal mandate to organise industrial action, but it would not mean strikes would begin at once.
Which council workers could be involved?
Unite said the ballot covers staff working in several important council services.
These include:
- Waste and bin collections
- Street cleaning
- Street lighting
- Home care
- Teaching assistant roles
Workers at 22 councils across England and Wales are expected to be balloted as part of the wider dispute.
The number of employees taking part at the two Cumbrian councils has not been confirmed.
Why are workers considering strike action?
The dispute centres on a national pay offer of 3.3 per cent for the 2026/27 financial year.
Unite said its members rejected the offer because they believe it does not make up for years of below-inflation pay rises and pay freezes.
Council pay is negotiated nationally rather than separately by Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council.
The National Employers for local government services made the 3.3 per cent offer in March. It would apply from April 1, 2026, and would also increase eligible allowances by the same amount.
What did the unions originally ask for?
Unite, Unison and GMB submitted a joint claim seeking a much larger increase.
The unions called for workers to receive at least £3,000 or 10 per cent, whichever would provide the greater rise.
Their wider claim also included:
- A minimum council wage of £15 an hour
- A two-hour reduction in the working week without a loss of pay
- One extra day of annual leave
- Paid term-time leave for school support staff
- Changes to the lowest teaching assistant grade
The National Employers rejected these additional requests and described the 3.3 per cent increase as its full and final offer.
Employers say offer is fair
The National Employers negotiate on behalf of around 350 councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
They said the offer was fair when considered alongside the financial pressure facing local authorities.
For the lowest-paid employee on the national pay scale, the increase would take the hourly rate to around £13.28.
Employers said the offer would add almost £870 million to the national council pay bill and would need to be funded through existing local authority budgets.
They also said the lowest annual salary on the relevant pay scale had risen from £18,333 in April 2021 to £24,796 before the latest proposed increase.
Could bin collections and other services be disrupted?
No strike dates have been announced.
Disruption would only become possible if enough Unite members take part in the ballot and a majority vote in favour of industrial action.
The union would then decide whether to call strikes and which services would be affected.
Because the ballot includes workers in waste collection, street cleaning and care roles, any future action could affect public services. However, the exact impact would depend on how many employees joined a strike and which workplaces were involved.
Other council employees who are not Unite members would not automatically be part of the action.
What happens next?
Unite members will receive ballot papers from July 16 and will have until August 17 to vote.
The union will announce the result after the ballot closes. Talks could continue during that period, and a revised agreement could still prevent industrial action.
Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council are not responsible for setting the national offer, although they would have to fund and apply any final pay settlement agreed through the national process.
