End in sight for pay battle at Southampton council

Southampton workers protesting last year (Pic: Guy Smallman)

---

The Unison and Unite unions have suspended their industrial and legal action against Southampton council to ballot on a deal over pay.

The unions took rolling action last year against the Tory council. This May the Tories were swept from office by Labour with the help of the unions.

Since then the new council has been negotiating with the unions over a phased scrapping of the Tory pay cuts and other attacks on conditions that were forced on workers.

Full details of the deal were set to be announced this week. The unions will ballot their members and hold membership meetings in September.

Mike Tucker, Unison branch secretary, said, “We welcome the progress that has been made in the negotiations with the council and believe that the majority of our members will vote to accept the council’s proposal for a phased reversal of the pay cuts.” Unite also welcomed the deal.