Damien Gayle
Wed, 8 February 2023
Photograph: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock
England’s flood warning systems have been placed on autopilot for the second time in a month as staff at the Environment Agency stage their latest strike over pay and conditions.
Thousands of workers at the government agency, who have key roles in controlling pollution and protecting communities from weather disasters, began striking at 7am on Wednesday.
In their absence flood warning systems, which are usually monitored by experienced staff, will be set to trigger automatically if they reach certain thresholds. The government said automatic flood warnings did not compromise safety, and pointed out that the risk of floods was currently low.
Wednesday’s strike is the second time in a month that Environment Agency workers have stopped work over pay. Last November, the government granted staff a 2% pay rise, but their trade union, Unison, says since 2010 its members’ salaries have fallen by more than 20% in real terms.
Related: Lack of investment could leave 600,000 English properties at risk of flooding
Unison said a recent survey found more than a quarter of Environment Agency staff were considering leaving in the coming year. Of these, more than half (54%) said their main reason for wanting to quit was inadequate pay.
Agency workers have said staff shortages were increasing pressure on those still working at the agency, while low pay had forced some to resort to food banks. Tom, an Environment Agency worker in the south-east, described the November pay award as insulting and said staff felt undervalued and disrespected.
“Because of the low pay there are real problems recruiting staff,” he said. “That means we’re expected to cover vacant posts and do more for less money. The cost of my mortgage has gone up by hundreds of pounds a month, on top of skyrocketing fuel bills and food costs. I’m struggling to make ends meet.”
Workers have been staging work-to-rule actions since December and had their first full strike day in January. The latest strike comes after a 12-hour period of action short of strike, in which staff withdrew from emergency incident rotas. It will be followed by a further 12-hour period of the same.
Discussions over pay have taken place, but Environment Agency workers are considered to be civil servants and so are affected by a wider 2% pay rise cut across the civil service.
Unison said Thérèse Coffey, the environment secretary, had still not sat down with workers’ representatives. “Ministers are simply ignoring this invisible workforce,” said Christina McAnea, the general secretary of Unison.
“The public might not see what they do, but day in day out, they work tirelessly behind the scenes keeping communities safe from the ravages of the weather, rogue companies polluting rivers and criminals blighting the landscape with illegal fly-tipping.
“Despite homes and communities being regularly battered by the weather at this time of year, and with pollution spills on the rise, the government hasn’t grasped what’s at stake. Decent pay is a key factor in protecting the environment and keeping everyone safe. But those services can’t be provided if there’s no one to run them.
“Ministers can end this disruption right away, begin to rebuild services and give communities the peace of mind they crave. All the government needs to do is get talks in motion and increase pay.”
The Environment Agency said: “As a public sector organisation the Environment Agency remains bound by the pay policy of the government of the day. We have plans in place to minimise disruption to our essential work to protect the environment and respond to critical incidents.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “The Environment Agency are meeting regularly with unions to have open and honest conversations about pay, conditions and reform. Defra representatives are involved in these meetings and ministers are being updated.”
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