By Tash Shifrin
22 July 2009
Trade union Unison has welcomed a break in the deadlock over council workers’ pay after Local Government Employers increased its offer.
The union had described the employers’ original 0.5% offer as ‘insulting’ and urged members to put pressure on local councillors to increase it.
The new offer would give the lowest-paid council workers – on scale points four to ten – an increase of 1.25%, with a 1% rise for those on scale points 11 to 49. The package also includes an extra day’s holiday for all staff from April 1 2009, and a commitment for a joint redundancy avoidance agreement to be in place by December 1.
But employers have warned that there will be no pay rise at all if unions fail to agree to the new proposed terms.
Unison head of local government Heather Wakefield said: ‘While we believe that our members are worth more, we are pleased that the employers have realised that 0.5% was an insult.
‘It is also vital that we have an agreement in place to protect jobs in the sector. This will help keep services running through the recession – when families and communities need them most.’
In a letter to the trade union side, employers’ secretary Sarah Messenger said: ‘This improved offer represents our final position and the employers are not prepared to negotiate any further. If the offer is rejected, councils will not implement it unilaterally so there would be no pay increase for 2009/10.’
22 July 2009
Trade union Unison has welcomed a break in the deadlock over council workers’ pay after Local Government Employers increased its offer.
The union had described the employers’ original 0.5% offer as ‘insulting’ and urged members to put pressure on local councillors to increase it.
The new offer would give the lowest-paid council workers – on scale points four to ten – an increase of 1.25%, with a 1% rise for those on scale points 11 to 49. The package also includes an extra day’s holiday for all staff from April 1 2009, and a commitment for a joint redundancy avoidance agreement to be in place by December 1.
But employers have warned that there will be no pay rise at all if unions fail to agree to the new proposed terms.
Unison head of local government Heather Wakefield said: ‘While we believe that our members are worth more, we are pleased that the employers have realised that 0.5% was an insult.
‘It is also vital that we have an agreement in place to protect jobs in the sector. This will help keep services running through the recession – when families and communities need them most.’
In a letter to the trade union side, employers’ secretary Sarah Messenger said: ‘This improved offer represents our final position and the employers are not prepared to negotiate any further. If the offer is rejected, councils will not implement it unilaterally so there would be no pay increase for 2009/10.’
