Council unions consider industrial action over ‘insulting’ 1% pay offer

21 Mar 14
Trade unions are to consult council staff on industrial action after the Local Government Association offered most employees a below-inflation 1% pay increase from next month.

By Richard Johnstone | 21 March 2014

Trade unions are to consult council staff on industrial action after the Local Government Association offered most employees a below-inflation 1% pay increase from next month.

The LGA, which had delayed its pay offer until the new minimum wage rates were confirmed, said those in the bottom six pay scales would receive higher increases, with the lowest paid receiving an increase of 4.66%. However, the majority of employees would only qualify for the 1% increase, below the current 1.9% consumer prices index inflation measure.

The offer made to local government unions Unison, the GMB and Unite followed a broad consensus among councils that there should be a pay offer to staff this year, the chair of the employers’ side of the National Joint Council Sian Timoney said.

‘At a time when local government is tackling the biggest cuts in living memory, this offer balances our commitment to increase the pay of our hardworking employees with the responsibility we have to address the significant financial pressures we face,’ she added.

‘We believe that this is a fair deal for employees, given the limits of what we can afford, and a fair deal for the taxpayers and residents who use and pay for the vital services which local government provides.’

However, both Unison and Unite announced they would consult staff on industrial action following the offer. The GMB said they would consult members on the offer.

Unison said it would consult more than 600,000 members, with around 90% of all staff set to receive the 1% increase. The union’s head of local government Heather Wakefield said these workers would have suffered a real-terms pay of almost 20% since 2010 in real terms.

‘It is outrageous that the vast majority of local government workers have effectively been offered another pay cut,’ she added.

‘Although the long overdue modest rise for the lowest paid workers is welcome, this offer is another slap in the face for local government workers.’

Unite hit out at the ‘insulting’ pay offer. National officer for local government Fiona Farmer said the offer falls short of the amount needed to ensure all council workers are paid the Living Wage.

‘We will be consulting our members with a recommendation to reject this offer and industrial action by our members is very much on the cards.

‘After yesterday’s budget, which was geared to prosperous and the well-off, this offer from the employers adds insult to injury.’

The GMB said it would consult members on the offer. Brian Strutton, the union’s national secretary for public services, said he expected members to say the offer is not good enough.

‘The 1.5 million strong local government workforce will be dismayed that nearly all of them will be getting just a 1% pay rise. The extra for the lowest paid is welcome but is worth only a few pence extra on the hourly rate.

‘It still leaves the local government workforce as the poor relations of the public sector. And councils can afford more. They are squirreling away hundreds of millions in reserves.’

The full offer from the LGA at the lower pay bands is:

 

Pay scale        Current hourly rate                 Proposed increase

 

5                        £6.45                                    4.66%

6                        £6.54                                    4.36%

7                        £6.69                                    3.10%

8                        £6.90                                    2.06%

9                        £7.11                                    1.46%

10                      £7.26                                    1.25%

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