Council staff accept 3.6% pay rise to end dispute

A pay dispute has been resolved after council staff accepted a 3.6% rise for 2024-25, a trade union said.

Employees of Peterborough Limited - which is owned by Peterborough City Council - previously threatened strike action after claiming they had yet to be offered a suitable pay increase which reflected their work.

The company provides services for waste management, street cleaning, libraries, museums and leisure centres.

Peterborough Limited said it is "extremely pleased" that union members have accepted the pay offer.

On Monday, Gordon White, GMB regional organiser, said members "stood together" with 89% voting in favour of the deal.

He confirmed industrial action related to this dispute was now off the table.

However, negotiations will begin shortly for this year's pay award, as well as the transfer terms for insourcing some Peterborough Limited workers back to the council, the trade union said.

Previously, union bosses said many members were struggling on low pay, and 78% of them voted in favour of industrial action.

It said a previous offer from Peterborough Limited would mean a 2.25% rise above the increase required to meet the National Living Wage. Yet workers employed directly by the council received a more generous pay award, the union said.

Mr White said: "Our members stood together and held out for the best possible offer.

"This is a fantastic result for them, and they will receive much-deserved and needed back pay.

"We will maintain this momentum for upcoming pay and insourcing negotiations.

"Our priority is to ensure that both our members remaining in Peterborough Limited and those being insourced by the council receive a fair deal."

A spokesperson for Peterborough Limited said: "Our teams do amazing work across the city, providing many key services for residents, and we are very pleased that they can now receive their pay award."

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