Unison moves to accept council pay deal

27 Apr 16
The trade union Unison has decided to accept a two-year pay offer for council workers, becoming the second union to accept the deal from local government employers.

Photo: iStock

 

Following a meeting of local government representatives today, Unison announced that it would accept the proposal made by the Local Government Association’s National Employers group for a 1% increase for most staff in 2016-17 and 2017-18. As part of the deal, lowest paid staff will receive higher increases to reflect the new National Living Wage.

Unison, which is the biggest union in local government, had initially rejected the offer after a consultation with members, while Unite also did so. Members of the GMB, the third union recognised in the National Joint Council that negotiates local authority pay deals, voted to accept the terms.

Announcing the decision to accept, Unison’s head of local government Heather Wakefield stated: “Having talked to members in local government across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we’ve decided that there are to be no further consultations and we have agreed to accept the employers’ pay offer for 2016-18.”

Responding to Unison’s announcement, a spokesman for the employers’ side of the National Joint Council said: “We’re pleased with Unison’s decision and hope that Unite will soon follow suit so that our hardworking staff can soon be able to receive the pay rise that they deserve.”

A spokesman for Unite told Public Finance that the union was still consulting its members and would be doing so for the next few weeks.

 

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