By Richard Johnstone | 18 February 2014
The Local Government Association has hit back at ‘unfounded’ trade union claims that it views the National Minimum Wage as the benchmark for council pay. Its comments came as the sides move into formal dispute over next year’s increase.
It was announced last week that council employers would not make a pay offer for the 2014/15 financial year until the completion of the Low Pay Commission’s review into the National Minimum Wage, expected in April.
Following this announcement, the three local government trade unions represented on the National Joint Council that negotiates pay deals – Unison, Unite and the GMB – told employers they were now in formal dispute.
Heather Wakefield, the national secretary of trade union side of the NJC and head of local government at Unison, said the suggestion any increase be ‘pegged’ to the National Minimum Wage was alarming.
In a letter to the LGA on Friday, she wrote: ‘As you know, the National Minimum Wage is no more than a legal floor below which basic pay cannot fall. It is certainly not an appropriate level of pay for skilled and dedicated local government and school support workers, working against the odds following almost half a million redundancies, to deliver quality local services and support children’s education.
‘Our claim is for £1.20 an hour for all NJC workers – to give the lowest paid the Living Wage and restore some of the 18% lost earnings for the higher paid.’
Responding to the letter yesterday, Sarah Messenger, the LGA’s employers’ secretary, said it was extremely disappointing the unions had moved into formal dispute so quickly.
‘Your claim that the employers view the National Minimum Wage as the benchmark for NJC pay is unfounded and untrue,’ she said.
‘The employers wish to construct a fair and affordable pay offer which would then be subject to negotiation with your side. However, we cannot reasonably be expected to do this given the uncertainty around the increase to the National Minimum Wage in October.
‘Given that the National Minimum Wage is a statutory requirement we will need to know its new level in order for us to then cost and shape a pay offer. You are aware of the financial situation in the sector ¬– we are therefore obliged to ensure that we represent the interests of local authorities by ensuring that any pay offer is shaped in such a way that it is affordable and fair to both employers and employees.’
This does not mean that any increase would be pegged to the minimum wage, she added. ‘We have never suggested this.’
The two sides will now meet on February 21 to discuss the dispute, Messenger said.
