Strike called off by vanguard staff

Unison, which represents 230 council and NHS staff involved in the Stockport Together vanguard, said “significant progress” was made in arbitration talks.

Industrial action had been due to take place on Friday.

Unison regional organiser Wendy Allison said: “Employers showed real intent today to sort things out and there have been important changes in the management position. We have therefore called off the planned strike action scheduled for Friday.

“Social workers and community health staff had been worried about the effect on the public of management proposals that would have meant unqualified staff taking on more frontline work and services coming under even greater pressure at peak times.

“It is very welcome that managers have now agreed not to compel staff to work extended hours and to work jointly with frontline staff in assessing appropriate staffing ratios.

“The commitments made today mark an end to the top-down approach previously taken by the employers. They have now agreed that staff will be involved in redesigning these proposals so that they are safe and workable.”

Union members will be consulted over the progress made in the talks.

The project’s partners include Stockport Foundation Trust, Stockport Council and Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group.

A spokesman for Stockport Together said: “Following a successful day of negotiations, we are pleased to confirm that there will be no industrial action on Friday 27 April 2018. We have agreed to continue to work together as we move towards implementation.”