Social care managers vote to go on strike due to recent pay changes

Children’s social care managers at Bath & North East Somerset Council have voted to go on strike after pay changes left morale ‘shot to bits’.

The UNISON practice picket in Keynsham on 14th January | Photo © Amy Rushton

Team managers and deputy team managers in the children’s services department were balloted on taking industrial action after pay regrading at the council put them on the same pay grade as some of the staff they manage.

100% of returned ballots supported striking, on a turnout of 94%.

The council said: “During the course of any industrial action, children’s services will work to ensure continuity of service provision for the children, young people and families we work with and to meet any new safeguarding requests made for support.”

No date has yet been set for when the strike will take place.

UNISON branch chair Amy Rushton said: “There’s still time to get back round the table and avoid strike action. But the result of the ballot couldn’t be clearer.”

She said: “With a 94% turnout and 100% of members voting for strike action, we hope the message is finally clear to the council: we won’t stop fighting for fairness for children and families and the social workers who support them.”

Bath & North East Somerset Council said on Tuesday 4th February: “We’ve been notified today by UNISON that their formal ballot for strike action about the grading of team manager and deputy team manager roles in children’s services resulted in agreement to proceed.

“During November and December, council senior managers met with staff and Unison members through ACAS [the advisory, conciliation, and arbitration service] with a view to finding a fair and reasonable resolution.

“A draft agreement was put forward, but UNISON members have not accepted it.

“This week, we put forward proposals to Unison to come back to the table with the aim of resolving the situation without the need for strike action.

“We remain committed to continuing constructive discussions with staff and UNISON.”

A host of roles across the council were regraded in 2025 as part of the council’s “being our best” programme (BOB).

Announcing in January that the union was holding a strike ballot, UNISON branch secretary Toni Mayo said: “BOB itself was imposed unilaterally despite being rejected by members in a consultative ballot, and without any worker input into role profiles.”

She added: “Morale is shot to bits. In children’s social care we’ve been told we have to wait almost an extra year for a resolution.

“People are leaving in droves and workloads are unsafe. It’s utter chaos, and members are angry both about what the council are doing and how it’s being done.”

Over 40 people, including UNISON staff from across the council, attended a “practice picket” outside Keynsham Civic Centre on the morning of Wednesday 14th January to show support as the ballots were sent out.

Social worker and team manager Claire Luxton, who has worked for the council for 15 years, said: “In this job we go above and beyond. We do it because we love the job and the council isn’t supporting us.”

Colleague David Wells added: “I feel really sad that the council can’t support its social work managers. For a workforce that operates almost solely on good will, it has quickly run out.”

Councillor Dave Biddleston (Keynsham South, Labour), who also attended the practice picket, said: “Social work is a highly skilled profession, and we should be paying people fairly for their expertise, experience and responsibility.

“When pay structures fail to reflect real-world roles and accountability, it damages morale, retention and ultimately the safety and quality of services. Councils cannot afford to get this wrong.”

BOB was met with protests when it was introduced in 2025. Although it resulted in a pay increase for most council staff, pay for 106 roles at the council was reduced to a lower level.

Under the council’s pay protection policy, the people in those roles had their pay frozen for three years, after the national pay award is applied, to avoid people suffering a pay cut – but concerns remained about real terms losses and that some people could end up with less money on their payslip when the pay freeze expires.

The BOB acronym has also been criticised as “demeaning”.

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter