UK
‘Crunch time for council’ as yoga and Pilates instructors prepare to strike

Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Fri, 16 February 2024 



Yoga, Pilates and aerobics instructors are to strike in a dispute over pay.

Members of Unison employed by Colchester City Council will walk out for seven days from Wednesday February 28 until Tuesday March 5.

Although the Leisure World and Northern Gateway Leisure Park trainers are directly employed by the council, they are not part of the same pay scheme as other staff.

Unison said the local authority has refused to increase pay for yoga and Pilates coaches of £25 per session since 2015, while aerobics instructors have been earning just £22.50.

Melinda Harrison, an aerobics instructor at the council for the past nine years, said: “Every other employee has had a pay rise, but we’ve been completely ignored. It’s like we don’t exist. We don’t get reviewed. It’s like the council has forgotten us.

“Ten years is a long time to go without a pay rise and the cost of living has shot up. It’s completely unfair to leave 

Workers at a defence agency are to be balloted for industrial action in a dispute over pay.

Members of the Prospect union at Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), will vote in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of action.

The union said the employer failed to meet its pay claim and imposed an “unagreed” offer for 2023-2024 of 3.25% or less.

Prospect is recommending that members vote yes to both strike action, and action short of strike.

The agency is responsible for managing MoD procurement across the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, and for support programmes for the UK’s armed forces.

Its headquarters is located at the MoD’s Abbey Wood complex in Bristol.

Prospect General Secretary, Mike Clancy, said: “Our members at DE&S are committed experts dedicated to keeping our country safe in an increasingly dangerous world.

“Yet instead of recognising their invaluable work, their employer is attempting to impose another significant cut in pay, with an offer below that negotiated elsewhere in the public sector, and far below their private sector counterparts.

“Industrial action is always a last resort. It is not too late for the employer to come back to the table and make a better offer.”

A DE&S spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that Prospect have taken the decision to hold an industrial action ballot over the 2023/24 pay offer, which was implemented last September after negotiations with our recognised trades unions.

“More than half of DE&S employees received base pay increases of at least 3.25% – the figure quoted by Prospect – with some of our lowest paid employees receiving as much as 14.63% in uplifts. The overall average base pay increase across all employees in 2023/24 was 5.1%.”