Antrim and Newtownabbey Council 'fully committed' to reaching workers' pay dispute outcome

The council was commenting after recent talks with trade unions failed to reach agreement after a formal offer was rejected.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Elected members and the council remain fully committed to finding a way forward with the trade unions, to reach a satisfactory outcome to the current pay dispute. Further engagement is planned in the coming weeks.”

A pay dispute has taken place at nine of the 11 local councils in Northern Ireland over the 2021-2022 NJC pay award as well as the Education Authority (EA), the NI Housing Executive, North West Regional College, Belfast Metropolitan College, St Columb’s College, South Eastern Regional College, Lumen Christi College and the Northern Regional College.

The dispute caused disruption to leisure services in Antrim and Newtownabbey including the closure of swimming pools and spas earlier this year.

At last month’s council meeting, members were told that “negotiations had conveyed council’s request to ensure front line employees receive improved pay in light of rising cost of living issues”.

In April, the council approved the Real Living Wage to be paid to all staff via a supplement and that “engagement take place to resolve associated pay point issues”. The cost to council was not disclosed.

Councillors were told at a recent meeting that the local authority is “in a challenging environment in terms of attracting and retaining staff”.

Agency staff are used by the council to provide temporary cover for absence such as maternity leave; sickness, secondments and vacant posts. The number of agency workers has reduced from 133 in August 2019 to 104 in August 2022.

There are currently 25 seasonal grounds maintenance workers in place although this cover is anticipated to finish on October 2.

Forty-six summer scheme leader roles were recruited in July when these programmes resumed with the schemes ending on August 19.

The council has said that it “continues to be challenging to fill roles through the agencies due to the current labour market” and it is “directly recruiting and filling operational vacancies that are currently covered by agency workers”.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter