21 March 2008
Local government employers and unions were heading for confrontation over pay this week after unions rejected a 2.2% offer as a 'slap in the face'.
Unions representing 1.4 million council workers had submitted a claim for a 6% rise or an extra 50p an hour. They met the employers' side for the first stage of talks on March 19, as new figures revealed the consumer price index had risen from 2.2% to 2.5% in February.
The talks came a week after the government's insistence that public sector pay rises should be capped at 2% was reiterated in the Budget.
Roger Phillips, vice-chair of the employers' side, said the 'key aspect' of the 2.2% offer was 'to make sure that any pay settlement is affordable to the taxpayer and councils, while at the same time making sure that local government continues to be an attractive place to work'.
But Unison head of local government Heather Wakefield said: 'A 2.2% offer is a slap in the face for 1.4 million local government workers, who have already put up with ten years of below-inflation pay settlements.
'Our members live in the real world with real inflation, and 2.2% does not go anywhere near to covering the huge hikes in basic living costs.'
Peter Allenson, national organiser at Unite, said: 'Our members in the front line have delivered for local councils and local communities. It is time the employers recognised this in their pay packets rather than propose a further cut in living standards.'
The unions were also unhappy that the offer comes with 'strings' – the employers side is seeking to agree pay rises for 2009/10 and 2010/11 by the end of the year.
'Attaching strings to such a low offer is adding insult to injury,' Wakefield said.
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