By Vivienne Russell | 23 July 2013
Unison has called on council employers to come back to the negotiating table as it announced its local government and school support members would hold a second day of strike action on September 30.
Unison was one of several public sector trade unions to take action over public sector pay and pension reforms on July 10.
The current offer gives the majority of council workers a 1% increase, following three years of pay freeze and below-inflation rises in 2013 and 2014.
Heather Wakefield, Unison’s head of local government, said: ‘The strike on 10 July sent a strong message to the employers that local government and school support workers are fed up and angry with being exploited.
‘It is a disgrace that so many workers and their families are forced to live on poverty pay. There was widespread public support for our members, the majority of whom are low paid and part-time women workers whose good will has been taken for granted for too long.’
She added that no local government or school support worker should earn less than the Living Wage.
It's time for the employers to come back to the negotiating table and work with us to secure a decent offer for our members and end this damaging dispute.’
Responding the announcement of further strike action, a Local Government Association spokesman said: ‘Most local government staff did not vote to strike and the vast majority did not take part in strike action earlier this month. Both GMB and Unite have confirmed that they will not take part in this further strike. We urge Unison to reconsider.
‘This year’s offer would increase the pay of most of our employees by one per cent while those on the lowest salaries would receive increases of between 1.25% and 4.66%. This is at the limit of what councils tackling the biggest cuts in living memory can afford.
‘The sooner Unison, Unite and GMB accept this pay offer, the sooner this money can reach our employees who have been waiting for it since April.’
