Lisa Nandy joins drug and alcohol support workers on Wigan picket line

The Wigan MP stood shoulder to shoulder with nearly 30 staff from Addaction, the borough's drug and alcohol support network, this morning, February 28.

The employees began a five-day walkout yesterday in the latest stage of the long-running dispute over pay.

Staff are angry that Addaction reneged on a promise to ensure their pay – as former NHS employees whose roles were transferred to the charity – kept pace with health service workers doing similar jobs.

They are also dismayed at the decision for Addaction to undergo a £140,000 rebrand to We Are With You, despite the claims of squeezed budgets.

Paddy Cleary, North West regional organiser for UNISON, the union which supports the staff, said: “Staff are so demoralised by management’s refusal to pay them the NHS rates have no option but to take industrial action.“To discover bosses are splashing out on a costly rebrand rather than paying them fairly is incredibly galling."

A spokesman for the company said: "We have listened to and understood our staff’s concerns and made a new financial offer which we think is fair and sustainable. We are clearly disappointed the majority of staff have rejected this and further action is going ahead.

"Separately, we are awarding all staff across the whole charity a 2% salary increase in the next financial year. This is true for all our services, from Cornwall to Wigan, to the north of Scotland.

“We are committed to finding a solution that is fair and sustainable for our staff, clients and the whole community and will continue to work with our staff in Wigan and Leigh to achieve this.”