Action for Children staff vote to strike

A ballot of staff at Action for Children, which runs around 200 children's centres, resulted in the majority of Unison and Unite members taking part voting to strike in protest against levels of pay for employees at the charity.

Around 5,000 people work for Action for Children, and around 1,000 are members of either Unison or Unite. Around 25 per cent of Unison members took part in the ballot, with 73 per cent of them voting in favour of strike action, and 35 per cent of Unite members took part, with 71 per cent of them voting for strike action.

A ballot on industrial action short of a strike found of those who voted, 88 per cent of Unite members and and 85 per cent of Unison members were in favour.

A date for strike action is yet to be fixed. The unions have made fresh calls for Action for Children to resolve the dispute through conciliation service Acas – something they say the charity has so far refused to do.

The unions claim negotiations with Action for Children in relation to pay awards for the current financial year 2015/16 have been ongoing for more than a year, with staff refusing to accept an offer of a one per cent increase. They say staff are unhappy with the offer in light of the fact they have not had a pay rise for six years.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said the results of the ballot show how strongly the charity’s workers feel about the matter.

“Today’s decision will have been a very difficult one for workers who are committed to their jobs and the people they care for," he said.

"It demonstrates the strength of feeling among them. We are determined to resolve this dispute – strike action should be an absolute last resort.

“Senior managers at Action for Children have acted in a high-handed way by imposing a pay settlement that excludes many staff. Charity workers are dedicated to looking after children and families, and want their employer to see sense and start to listen.”

Sir Tony Hawkhead, chief executive at Action for Children, questioned how representative the ballot was.
 
“In an organisation which has a workforce of nearly 5,000, there are around 1,100 trade union members, of which only a quarter of members voted," he said.

"We are saddened by the ballot result, which in real terms means that only five per cent of staff backed industrial action.
 
“However, we respect the right of trade union members who choose industrial action. Our top priority is to ensure this has the minimum disruption to our frontline services.

"We have been working closely with operational managers to put in place contingency plans with the aim of maintaining business as usual for people who depend on our services.”