Environment Agency workers to begin industrial action on Monday

Prospect members working at the Environment Agency will begin industrial action on Monday 19th December in a dispute over pay.

This will be continuous action short of a strike and will include members working to rule:

1. Only working contracted hours, taking all scheduled breaks according to length of working day and having appropriate compensatory rest between work
2. Not doing any unpaid work outside of contracted hours
3. Disconnecting from work electronics outside of contracted hours and during rest breaks

In addition, members will also take discontinuous action short of strike from 18:00 to 22:00 on 19 December 2022, 21 December 2022 and 23 December 2022. This will consist of withdrawing from Incident Response rosters on the above dates.

Further information about the reason for the strike and details of the ballot can be found here.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect union, said:

“Our members do not want to take industrial action, but they have been forced into it by the current cost-of-living crisis which has pushed them over the edge after more than a decade of decreasing real-terms pay. The gap between wage growth and price growth is never more noticeable than it is at this time of year.

“The Environment Agency is already struggling due to resourcing issues and experienced staff leaving. If something isn’t done about pay the agency simply will not be able to function and it is all of us who will pay the price of collapsing environmental standards.”