Huntingdonshire District Council is preparing for further planned industrial action by some of its staff employed at Pathfinder House.

The council was informed this week that members of the UNISON union intend to undertake industrial action from Tuesday, August 29, to Friday, September 1.

The news comes after an announcement at the end of last week of intended industrial action, from Monday, August 21 to Friday, August 25, at the council’s Eastfield House site, which hosts the council's waste collection services.

HDC has since confirmed the impact of that first action strike will mean there will be no green bin collection service during the strike period. 

HDC says talks continue to resolve the dispute, but contingency planning is underway to limit the impact on residents if strike action does go ahead.

In a release to the media, HDC said: "Through both periods of industrial action all efforts will be made to limit the impact on residents and communicate these to residents. Service updates will be available on our website."

The planned action follows unsuccessful annual pay discussions with UNISON. Council staff have received a four per cent pay award for this financial year along with a further £1,000 one-off award to all contracted staff in March.

The council had offered a further payment to be made in December which would result in all contracted staff receiving at least the Real Living Wage in 2023/24. 

Cllr Martin Hassall, executive councillor for corporate and shared services, said: "We are disappointed to hear of this further strike action by UNISON, but talks are ongoing, and we very much hope that industrial action can be avoided or resolved quickly.

“We apologise for the inconvenience that this will cause people, but contingency planning is underway, and arrangements are in place to ensure we offer our important frontline services to residents as best as we can on the affected days.

"Some services may have to be prioritised at the expense of others and we would ask for the public's patience.

“If there are any changes to services, then we will communicate these via our website and social media."