By Richard Johnstone | 4 February 2014
Three local government trade unions are today holding protests across the country to support their campaign to increase the pay of all council workers to the level of the living wage.
Unison, Unite and GMB unions have planned more than 50 lunchtime protests in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to support the wage claim, ahead of a decision from the Local Government Employers group later this month.
The unions made a submission in October for a minimum hike of £1 an hour increase at each point on the pay scale. This would bring the lowest points on the local government pay scale to the level of the Living Wage.
The claim was amended to £1.20, after the Living Wage increased by 20p to £7.65, and £8.80 in London, last November. Local government workers received a 1% pay increase in 2013/14 following a three-year pay freeze.
Unison’s head of local government Heather Wakefield said pay constraint had had a ‘devastating’ impact on the living standards of local government employees.
‘Politicians from all parties have been talking about the need to end low pay and introduce the Living Wage. This must apply to local government workers, more than half a million of whom currently earn less than the Living Wage.
‘Our members in local government have shown their commitment to keeping our local services going against all odds, and we now need a commitment from the government and the Local Government Employers to finally make us a decent pay offer. More than half of the cost would be recouped through increased tax and National Insurance take, so it is affordable.’
The unions together represent 1.6 million local government workers. It is estimated that 510,000 earn less than the current Living Wage and a million earn less than the government’s 'low pay' threshold of £21,000 a year.
Brian Strutton, GMB national secretary for public services, said this was the result of years of real-terms pay cuts. He added that it was ‘staggering’ that more than half a million council workers are paid less than Living Wage.
‘We are talking about frontline workers who serve our communities day in, day out. They work as street sweepers, social workers, classroom assistants, housing officers, cleaners, and dinner ladies.
‘All will be standing together on February 4 and demanding an answer to this question: why are we made scapegoats for a financial crisis we had nothing to do with?’
Unite national officer Fiona Farmer urged the government to ‘pay up and spread some of the feel-good factor of his so-called economic recovery’.
She added: ‘Britain’s shrinking wages crisis means workers need a pay rise – none more so than the country’s million plus low-paid local government workers who are struggling to make ends meet after an 18% real terms pay cut since 2010.
‘With local government workers spending 52.5p of every pound they earn in their local communities, holding down pay is not only bad for workers, it’s bad for the economy.’
