By Vivienne Russell | 17 October 2012
Local government unions have called for a ‘substantial’ pay rise to bring council workers’ wages into line with inflation and living costs.
Unison, Unite and the GMB sent their claim today to the National Joint Council for Local Government services. Together, the three unions represent 1.6 million local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The unions highlight the unprecedented three-year pay freeze and the fact that it is ‘unique’ to the public sector. The cumulative effect of this has been a 13% fall in pay for council workers, while food and fuel costs have risen.
They added that it is not just the lowest paid who are feeling the squeeze, but those in professional and technical jobs who are being paid less than their private sector counterparts.
Unison head of local government Heather Wakefield said: ‘The government’s cruel and relentless austerity agenda has gone far enough, and it is time for the assault on the wages of local government workers to come to an end. With this pay claim, our position is clear; it is high time for fair pay and that means a substantial increase.’
Peter Allenson, Unite’s national officer for local government, added that many local authority employers had ‘lost their moral compass by tugging their forelock to this austerity-obsessed government’.
He said: ‘Three years of pay freezes – in effect, large pay cuts – have been compounded by some authorities not even paying the £250 due to those earning below £21,000. Those employers have even out-Scrooged George Osborne, which is quite a feat.’
For the GMB, national secretary Brian Strutton said the claim was being submitted with the expectation that the pay freeze would be broken.
‘Council leaders have already said they are preparing to make an offer to raise pay but at the expense of worsening terms and conditions,’ he said.
‘There is little to commend this “give with one hand and take with the other” approach and I predict a rocky road ahead for these crucial negotiations.’
Local government unions have called for a ‘substantial’ pay rise to bring council workers’ wages into line with inflation and living costs.
Unison, Unite and the GMB sent their claim today to the National Joint Council for Local Government services. Together, the three unions represent 1.6 million local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The unions highlight the unprecedented three-year pay freeze and the fact that it is ‘unique’ to the public sector. The cumulative effect of this has been a 13% fall in pay for council workers, while food and fuel costs have risen.
They added that it is not just the lowest paid who are feeling the squeeze, but those in professional and technical jobs who are being paid less than their private sector counterparts.
Unison head of local government Heather Wakefield said: ‘The government’s cruel and relentless austerity agenda has gone far enough, and it is time for the assault on the wages of local government workers to come to an end. With this pay claim, our position is clear; it is high time for fair pay and that means a substantial increase.’
Peter Allenson, Unite’s national officer for local government, added that many local authority employers had ‘lost their moral compass by tugging their forelock to this austerity-obsessed government’.
He said: ‘Three years of pay freezes – in effect, large pay cuts – have been compounded by some authorities not even paying the £250 due to those earning below £21,000. Those employers have even out-Scrooged George Osborne, which is quite a feat.’
For the GMB, national secretary Brian Strutton said the claim was being submitted with the expectation that the pay freeze would be broken.
‘Council leaders have already said they are preparing to make an offer to raise pay but at the expense of worsening terms and conditions,’ he said.
‘There is little to commend this “give with one hand and take with the other” approach and I predict a rocky road ahead for these crucial negotiations.’
