Image: Graves at Glendale overlayed with Update text
Gravediggers of Rotherham cancel strikes as cemetery staff have accepted a new pay offer put forward by their employer.
Staff will receive their real living wage (£10.90 per hour), plus 20p from 25 October. Weekend and bank holiday pays will also double from £20 to £40.
The pay offer will be in place for the next two years.
UNISON, one of the UK’s largest trade unions, said in a press release: “The agreed pay rise means the lowest paid workers will see their salary increase by almost 30% over the two-year period.”
The privately-employed gravediggers of Glendale Grounds Maintenance were being paid around £1,100 less annually than their council-employed counterparts, UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside had revealed.
UNISON Rotherham branch secretary, Ruth Askwith, said: “Workers have stood up for themselves and got the result they wanted.
“It means they can now concentrate on doing the job they care passionately about – and will get a fair wage for doing it.”
UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside regional organiser Dan Wood said: “This is a fantastic outcome for staff who were sick of missing out simply because they’re employed by a private company rather than the council.”
Strikes that were previously postponed to take place in October and November will no longer take place due to the new pay offer.
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