An all-out strike by Barnet Council’s housing repairs team over sick pay for an injured colleague has ended after two weeks.

Trade union Unison has reached an agreement with council housing arm Barnet Homes on the terms of the dispute following talks with Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).

It brings to an end 14 days of industrial action that was called after a worker, Mejdi, was injured while working for Barnet Homes – part of council-owned trading company The Barnet Group – but was offered a loan instead of sick pay to cover his period of absence.

The Barnet Group initially said Mejdi’s employment terms and conditions transferred with him when he joined from another company. But Barnet Unison called on the council-owned company to go further and pay him for the period when he did not receive sick pay. The union branch said Mejdi had worked hard through the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of offering sick pay instead of a loan would have been easily affordable to The Barnet Group.

A four-month long dispute culminated in an all-out strike, which began on 17th October and ended on 4th November. Barnet Unison branch secretary John Burgess confirmed an agreement had been reached but added that he “would have preferred it if we did not have to take strike action”.

“I always pride ourselves that we try to negotiate,” he said. “The strike lasted for 14 days […] All-out strike action is highly unusual, and it was the first time in Barnet Unison’s history.”

John said the strike was called because the workforce “felt so strongly” about the issue. The last time Unison members went on strike was in 2016, he added, in a dispute over the outsourcing of council services.

A spokesperson for Barnet Homes said: “Following talks with Acas, Unison and Barnet Homes have reached an agreement on the terms of the dispute. Both parties look forward to working constructively together in the future.”