Home > Answers to key questions about strike action at Second Step
Answers to key questions about strike action at Second Step
Last updated: 6 February 2026
About strike action at Second Step
Unison members at Second Step took strike action for 27 days as part of a dispute over pay negotiating rights.
Strike action took place for 27 days over between January and March 2026.
Pickets took place at various locations including:
- Bristol office – 162 Pennywell Road, Bristol, BS5 0TX
- High Support Accommodation – Toll House Court, 308-312 North Street, Bristol, BS3 1JY
- Bath office – 28 Southgate Street, Bath, BA1 1TP
- Greenway Centre, Doncaster Road, Bristol, BS10 5PY
- Swindon Office - Pinetrees Community Centre. The Circle, Pinehurst, Swindon, SN2 1RF
Picketing must take place outside our premises and not on our footprint.
We have requested that no pickets take place outside our clients’ homes, for example at Toll House Court in Bristol, due to the impact on vulnerable people who live there.
We supported staff during this time in a number of ways including through our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
As of February 2026, 124 of Second Step’s 374 staff were UNISON members.
Yes. UNISON’s current strike mandate lasts for six months, meaning they can call further strike action up to May 2026. If further strike action is planned, UNISON is required to give at least ten days' notice.
Impact on Second Step's services
When strike action took place, our priority was be to keep services running safely for the people who rely on us. Senior leaders and central teams met regularly to plan for this and stepped in to support services and cover essential functions where and when needed.
During this time, our focus was on core service delivery. Some non-essential activity was paused so we could concentrate on maintaining safe, reliable support for clients.
There was minimal disruption to our services. Some of our college courses were postponed.
Every service regularly updated their Business Continuity Plans.
Derogations are exemptions agreed with the union to allow essential or safety-critical services to continue during strike action, to protect the safety of our clients.
Derogations were requested for three services. These derogations were not agreed with by UNISON.
We made sure clients continued to receive the support they needed. Staff had a clear message to give to clients.
How are Second Step and UNISON resolving the dispute?
Yes. Acas, the advisory, conciliation and arbitration service, is facilitating discussions between Second Step and UNISON.
Full negotiation rights is also known as collective bargaining. It means UNISON would have the right to negotiate pay and contractual terms and conditions with Second Step for the whole staff group regardless of union membership. Full negotiation rights will only be awarded following an all-staff ballot, which is standard practice.
Second Step holds reserves. These are limited and have been assessed as appropriate for an organisation of its size and the nature of its work. Reserves are kept aside to help manage risk and keep services running if something unexpected happens. Using the reserves to uplift pay would reduce this safety net and could put the stability of client services at risk. Details of reserves have been shared with all staff.
Union recognition is when an employer formally acknowledges a union's right to represent a group of its workers to negotiate terms and conditions like pay, hours, and benefits through collective bargaining, and leading to a formal recognition agreement detailing these rights and processes.
UNISON accepted an offer of one-off payments together with Wellbeing Days for all staff.
We have shared a draft Recognition Agreement with UNISON, which will be discussed at our next Acas meeting on 11 February. This forms part of our clear and constructive offer to establish a recognition agreement through a standard process led by Acas. Any final agreement on recognition would be subject to a whole-staff ballot, so that all staff have a say in this important decision.
How to stay up to date
We post regular updates about what’s going on at Second Step, including information about the upcoming industrial action, on our News Hub.