Depot workers give Barnet Council last chance

Waste, recycling and street cleansing workers have rejected a second offer on holiday pay back payments. They say the council’s next move will decide whether they ballot for strike action, reports Leïla Davaud

Barnet Council's Colindale offices — Barnet Council’s Colindale Offices

Barnet Council depot workers are moving closer to strike action following the failure to resolve their dispute with the local authority of underpayment of holiday pay.

“The depot workers never expected to get the full amount they were owed, but they did expect to be treated with dignity,” John Burgess, Barnet Unison branch secretary, tells Barnet Post.

The dispute began a year ago, when council employees contacted Unison about a new holiday pay element on their payslips. Barnet Council had replaced Capita with Liberata as its payroll provider, and the new company began paying holiday pay to staff who regularly work overtime, showing that Capita had never paid it during the twelve years after the legislation passed.

Workers asked why the payments had been missed and whether they would ever be repaid. Unison’s Barnet branch took up their case and secured a first offer from the council: six months of backpay as a “goodwill payment”, with the council saying it could not afford more. Workers rejected it in a consultative ballot in August.

On Monday, 21st September, the council came back with a second offer: 18 months of backpay. It took a week-long consultative ballot with more than 90% turnout for the workers to reject it.

Burgess adds: “Once again, the workers felt insulted. They ask to be met ‘halfway’, settling for six years of backpay instead of twelve years. They’ve even suggested the amount to be paid over instalments.

“It’s important to remember that they are not asking the council for more money but to be paid what they worked for, what they are owed.”

Unison Barnet and its members gave Barnet Council until Friday, 9th October to come up with a better offer, or it will declare a dispute. “Which means that we might be balloting in November, with possible industrial action in December,” says Burgess.

Amid the negotiations, the council workers still have unanswered questions: “Was the council aware before 2025 that the payments had not been correctly implemented? Has the council carried out a full investigation into the historic payroll arrangements? Has the council sought an explanation from Capita for the failure?”

Burgess says: “What is very clear is that Barnet Council has not managed the Capita contract over a prolonged period. Under the Conservatives mostly, but also under Labour. Are they too frightened to go to Capita for the money? We need the leader and all councillors to weigh in on this.”

In a previous response to the Post, a spokesperson for Capita said: “Capita previously delivered payroll services to Barnet Council as a managed service. These services were provided at the direction of the council, in accordance with the council’s policies. Capita adhered to the terms of the contract.”

At the time, a council spokesperson told the Post: “The council is in discussion with Capita about how this situation arose.”

Talking to the Post earlier this month, Simon Radford, Labour’s cabinet member for finance, gave his take on the situation: “Unions’ job is to look after the interests of their workers, and that’s brilliant. But I think context is important. It was because we had a contract that wasn’t particularly effective that we got to this point. Now, we’ve moved towards a new contract with a more effective provider.

“When you have a one-size-fits-all company to do everything, and then don’t manage its performance or you don’t write the contracts well, it all goes to pot.

“This is why we had a life raft and not a massive luxury yacht when we took over in terms of trying to sort these things out. You never know what’s around the corner. In terms of these legacy issues, we do need to make sure that justice is done. But we also need to make sure that we balance the justice for the past problems so that it doesn’t hamper our ability to provide justice in the future to lots of other people.”

In a message to the depot workers, Cllr Radford added: “I would like to express my empathy for where they are at, the sadness that this situation came to pass and a willingness on behalf of me, and I think probably all my colleagues, that we would like to find a solution.”

Responding to this, Burgess said: “If Cllr Radford is willing to get involved then we will let him do so because it seems ridiculous that we could have picket lines over Christmas in Barnet. We shouldn’t need to do that and I hope that someone with common sense will say ‘sort this out’.”

Additional reporting: David Floyd

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