THURROCK Council's Conservative leader has responded to criticism earlier today from his Labour counterpart about the pending industrial action due to council staff - which will start later this month.

Earlier today (Thursday, 1 April) Labour's Cllr John Kent damned the Conservatives for taking an intractable position and called on them to negotiate to avoid a strike.

However, leading Tory says it is Labour and other opposition councillors who have been fuelling the fire of the dispute and the fault arises from Labour's policies for dealing with staff - even though it is almost five years since Labour held power.

Cllr Gledhill told Nub News: "This strike action will do nothing but have a direct impact on Thurrock taxpayers and the fact the Unite union has called for weeks of strikes in the lead up to the local elections will not be lost on residents.

"Let's be clear no one at the council is having their basic annual salary cut.

"Indeed it was only Thurrock Labour and certain independent councillors who refused to agree a pay increase for the lowest paid staff at the council this year, again offering absolutely no alternative.

"The amounts banded about by Labour and the union is from reducing certain overtime being paid at triple time back to double time, overtime for certain daily task being removed and guaranteed overtime for clearing bank holiday backlogs even if that time isn't worked.

"Also outdated working practices like being able to finish one type of collection and go home whilst other crews are running behind collecting different waste types, overtime for those earning more than £55,000 and so on must be brought to an end. This was in return for pay increases being brought forward.

"So it is time for Unite union and others to come clean on the whole situation. In 2019/2020 all the unions signed up to these changes in return for over £800,000 pay increases being brought forward. Those union negations saw some staff seeing a 12% basic salary increase in return for these antiquated terms and conditions to come to an end and to move the service to a more industry standard pay arrangement.

"The Council management team stuck to this agreement and remain around the negotiation table. I, like the council management team, hoped the unions would have stuck to their side of the agreement and continued to talk rather than instigate industrial action just before an election.

"Nobody is underestimating or underappreciating the work our staff do far from it, that is why the agreement for higher basic salary for waste crews was agreed last year.

"Unfortunately the outdated terms and conditions, along with work practices not seen anywhere else in the council, were agreed in under the last Labour administration. Had proper leadership been shown then it wouldn't be for the Conservatives to clear up another Thurrock Labour legacy which has been costing the taxpayer dearly."