25 Jul 2024
Union officials have called for fresh talks to prevent more walkouts going ahead in August, though bosses insist improvements can only be made ‘sustainably’.
Allister Webb
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Image: Niek Verlaan via Pixabay
A Welsh veterinary practice group is set to be hit by further strike action next month in an ongoing pay and conditions dispute.
Union officials have urged Valley Vets bosses to resume negotiations for a settlement to prevent the new walkouts from going ahead in August.
The VetPartners-owned group has insisted it is open to further talks, but said it could only improve staff terms and conditions “when it can be done sustainably”.
Members of the British Veterinary Union (BVU) are currently on their 10th strike day after voting overwhelmingly to take industrial action last month.
The union has argued that Valley Vets’ pay offer amounted to a real-terms pay cut, while the employer has claimed meeting the BVU’s demands would make the business unsustainable without “significant” job losses.
Although staff are due to go back to work next Tuesday, 30 July, the BVU, which is a branch of Unite, has now confirmed further strikes are scheduled to go ahead from 6 to 23 August.
News of the fresh walkouts was confirmed in social media posts on Tuesday, 23 July, as the union, which has said it wants fair pay, fair fees and smaller profits, called for fresh talks.
A BVU spokesperson insisted the action was a “last resort”, adding: “Our members would love to get back to work and do what they are trained to do.”
She claimed bosses had refused to re-open talks and urged them to “behave responsibly, get back around the table and come to a resolution”.
She added: “Other employers in other sectors behave professionally and negotiate with trade unions working on behalf of their employees.”
In response, Valley Vets management said they were “disappointed” by the latest strike plans but insisted they supported members’ rights to take action and said they felt they had been “fully transparent” on the issue.
They argued that profits had already fallen in recent years because fee rises had not kept pace with growing costs and warned they could not be raised further to support “significant salary increases”.
The current action has already led to the temporary closure of Valley Vets’ branch practices, with emergency care being provided at its hospital site in Gwaelod y Garth.
The group said the closures will continue even after staff have returned to work to ensure service continuity for clients.
But its managers have thanked staff who have kept working to provide emergency care as well as praising “the support we have received from the wider veterinary profession during this difficult time”.
