More than 1,000 local government craftworkers are set to strike later this month over pay and working conditions
The construction worker strike will take place on 17, 18, 23, and 24 June and will see workers in Bristol, Southwark, Stoke-on-Trent, Newham, Leeds and Babergh, and Mid Suffolk councils taking action, says Unite the Union.
The strike action is primarily a response to a pay offer of just 3.2% made last year after more than 10 years of frozen pay and rises that didn’t keep up with inflation.
“Workers have had enough”
Another key issue leading to the strike is changes made to the national agreement for red book workers, including plumbers, electricians, and carpenters, such as the removal of apprentices from the agreement and a shift to job evaluation.
Unite says that the local government job evaluation process is harmful to local government craftworkers, and does not adequately reward workers for their skills and abilities.
The strike action is targeted, and more local authorities could join the dispute. Unite stands for a full review of the government pay spine and protection to be granted to the existing agreement. Negotiation has been refused by government employers so far.
Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Local government workers have had enough. Years of poor pay increases and freezes has undermined their earnings and is driving living standards down. The attacks on their national agreement, designed to make them even poorer in the future is totally unacceptable.
“Unite backs its members 100% and that commitment totally applies to our members in local government.”
Unite national officer, Jason Poulter, said: “The local government employers have brought this dispute on themselves in the high handed and dismissive way they have treated proposed peace talks. Their contempt for highly skilled dedicated craftworkers has been demonstrated by their refusal to negotiate.
“The strike action will inevitably cause severe disruption to the lives of council tenants needing repairs and maintenance work. Even at this late stage the dispute can be resolved by the employers entering negotiations with realistic proposals to resolve this dispute.”
Local and national government handling both cause discontent
Earlier this year, in January, around 90 tower crane drivers at Wolffkran planned to take strike action over pay disputes, and the Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) stated that strike action like this is being driven by rising costs, falling workloads, and pay rises not keeping up with inflation and cost-of-living.
The CPA described these factors as a “perfect storm” which not only leads workers to be unsatisfied, but also slows projects down. Employers faced long periods of low demand in 2025, made even worse by regulatory changes and the mishandling of Gateway 2.
Steve Mulholland, chief executive of the Construction Plant-hire Association, said:
“This dispute is the product of a perfect storm created by Labour. Construction activity collapsed throughout 2025, yet employers were hit with higher National Insurance, higher minimum wages and growing regulatory burdens at exactly the same time.
“Plant-hire firms stood by their workforce through long periods of poor utilisation, but cash has been draining out of the sector for over a year. Highly skilled operators understandably want to protect pay differentials, but those expectations are colliding with the reality of a market where work has dried up and hire rates are being pushed down.”
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