Further public sector strikes announced in Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales

Prospect union has notified both the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales that it will be taking further strike action on 11 May and 7 June.

Prospect members on the last strike day outside Welsh government offices

This will be the start of strike action in Natural Resources Wales.

Despite ongoing meetings with Welsh Ministers, there has been no movement on extra funding to improve the existing pay deals of 4% for 22/23 which will further erode living standards as inflation hits double digits. This is despite further funding being made available and pay deals struck in the health and education sectors in Wales.

Prospect represents tens of thousands of specialists, technical, professional, managerial and scientific staff in the Civil Service and across the public sector both in Wales and the UK as a whole.

Prospect members in 40 employers across the public sector – including the Welsh Government – previously took strike action on 15 March in a dispute over pay, job numbers, and proposed cuts to redundancy terms. Members’ pay has declined by up to 26% since 2010.

Members working in the Welsh Government have also been undertaking action short of a strike – including working to contracted hours and an overtime ban – since 16 March. Action short of a strike in Natural Resources Wales will start on 1 May and continue on days when strike action is not taking place.

Daniel Maney, Negotiations Officer for Wales, said:

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce further industrial action in Wales, but our members have been left with no other choice.

“After more than a decade of real terms pay cuts, the cost-of-living crisis has pushed our members over the edge. Having worked tirelessly through the pandemic, it is only fair that they are rewarded in line with their colleagues in education and health.

“Welsh Ministers like to promote an ethos of “one public sector” in Wales and it is time that their pay offers caught up with their rhetoric.”