Environment Agency staff set for out-of-hours ban

Thousands of Environment Agency (EA) workers in England will stop out-of-hours attendance at incidents such as floods, water pollution, spills, waste fires and fly-tipping this weekend, in their ongoing pay dispute. The industrial action, which starts at 9am tomorrow (Saturday), is set to continue for a month, with workers refusing to volunteer for on-call cover outside of contracted hours until 19 September. Officers will step in where there is a threat to life, from incidents such as a major flood, as emergency life and limb cover has been agreed by the union. This new wave of industrial action follows months of industrial action seeking an improved pay offer from the agency. Members have been taking last resort industrial action since December 2022, after the organisation failed to offer a fair pay rise in the face of soaring household bills and inflation. Staff have seen pay fall below inflation and incomes squeezed since 2011, meaning that staff effectively work one day a week for free. The 2% plus £345 pay award for 2022/23 was so low that some colleagues saw their pay dip below the national living wage in April and had to receive a salary ‘top-up’ to comply with minimum wage legislation. Staff are due to receive an unconsolidated cost of living payment of £1,500 this month, but this does not address the gulf between the 2022/23 pay award and the rising living costs members have experienced. UNISON members working for the EA are seeing their roles being paid well ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News environment agency Industrial action Source Type: news