Swindon social workers strike over unsociable-hours pay

A spokesperson for Swindon Borough Council said it is keen to negotiate

Social workers for Swindon Borough Council have gone on strike over changes to the way they are paid for working unsociable hours.

A GMB union spokesperson says staff will lose around £700 a month when an advance unsocial hours payment stops.

"The last thing that social workers want to do is to take strike action, but they are being forced [to take] this drastic step," he said.

Swindon council said staff will still be paid extra for unsociable hours.

Andy Newman says the change will mean £700 less per month for social workers

Social workers at Swindon Borough Council provide what is called the emergency duty service, which means they are ready to respond at any time of night to calls for urgent child protection or mental health crises.

Swindon Borough Council says social workers' basic pay is increasing - following a pay grade restructuring of all staff - and that in future they will be paid for the overnight service when they do the work, rather than each of them getting the same lump sum.

Wiltshire GMB branch secretary Andy Newman has told the BBC this means the staff have lost a 20 per cent allowance for working unsociable hours, which can involve "quite harrowing work" and is "very very disruptive to their personal lives".

He said is was a job involving enormous responsibility."They carry the can. It has previously been rewarded and now that's been removed."

He said that many social workers are looking for other jobs as a result of the changes and that many are stressed and feeling unwell.

'Additional pay uplift'

Jim Robbins, the Labour leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: "I'm really disappointed it's got to this point."

He said that on Wednesday a remuneration panel had identified an additional pay uplift that the council can offer, based on market conditions.

He added that he believes that the offer is fair and that social workers will be better off with the new pay and conditions.

"We've gone through and looked at their shift pattern for the next month or so. And it looks to us as if they are all going to be better off," he said.

A spokesperson for the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We have planned for the forthcoming strike action and have arrangements in place to offer on-site support to any patients who need to see a social worker out of hours while industrial action is ongoing."

This is the first industrial dispute to face the new Labour administration at Swindon Borough Council.

The strike, which began on Thursday, was originally planned to last two weeks. But the GMB has suspended action from Friday to Sunday this week, pending the outcome of talks.