'My duty to correct the record' says council boss
Wiltshire Council's chief executive said an email he sent to staff in November 2022, recently judged to be unlawful, was necessary to correct a "misleading" statement by the GMB union.
The GMB union representing Wiltshire Council staff, claims Terrence Herbert 's email was intended to deter its traffic wardens from voting for industrial action. Workers were being balloted as part of a long-running dispute with the council over plans to remove enhanced payment for contractual out-of-hours work, which the union said amounted to a pay cut.
Mr Herbert, who is preparing to leave his chief executive role to transfer to Surrey County Council, said: "In those statements, they had said that we had reneged on a promise to offer lifetime pay protection. We were very clear that... we had never offered lifetime pay protection."
In reference to the council employees he added: "I didn’t intend for them to feel threatened, I intended for them to be informed. I genuinely believed that what I was doing was informing my staff."
'Didn't want redundancies'
The email Mr Herbert wrote claimed the GMB's representation of the plans as a "10% pay cut" was "really misleading". In his email he urged staff to "consider carefully" whether further strikes would support a resolution.
Bristol Employment Tribunal has since ruled that correspondence broke industrial relations law and Wiltshire's council's leader Richard Clewer confirmed £21,395 has been spent to date on defending the case.
The council is currently seeking legal advice as to whether there are grounds to appeal against the tribunal's decision.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Herbert said: "We entered into all of our negotiations in good faith and professionally, with all three of our recognised unions – UNISON, Unite and the GMB.
"Unfortunately, from the outset, GMB's behaviour and actions were in sharp contrast to that of UNISON and Unite, and they seemed to have set their course not to agree."
He described the pay policies that Wiltshire Council was seeking to change as "historical" and "no longer fit for purpose".
Mr Herbert said it was "very hard to justify - to residents and staff who do not receive the same entitlement - policies that amount to "£800,000 per year in extra payments".
He noted: "I didn’t want to make people redundant... therefore, we have to make savings".
Following negotiations, the council offered four years of pay protection for affected staff, which was accepted by UNISON and Unite the Union, but the offer was rejected by GMB.
Regarding his email, Mr Terence said: "There had been a number of announcements or media statements made by GMB in the run up to another ballot.
"In those statements, they had said that we had reneged on a promise to offer lifetime pay protection.
"We were very clear that... we had never offered lifetime pay protection."
Referencing his staff, he also said: "I didn’t intend for them to feel threatened, I intended for them to be informed.
“I genuinely believed that what I was doing was informing my staff.
“Whenever you see an organisation like GMB openly misrepresenting what has happened, you think that there is a duty for you to correct the record, and that’s what I was doing.”
Reflecting on the impact of the case, Mr Herbert said it was "stressful" and "takes a toll".
When approached for comment, a spokesperson for GMB said: "The findings of the tribunal are clear that his arguments are unconvincing.
"For him to attack the findings of the tribunal is disingenuous and I’m sure residents of Wiltshire will find it equally concerning."
