The National Employers, who negotiate pay on behalf of 350 local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, suggested that the majority of employees – those on salaries starting at £19,430 – should receive a 2% increase for 2018-19 and a further 2% for 2019-20.
Those workers on lower salaries would receive higher increases. For the 3,485 fulltime equivalent employees currently on the bottom of the pay scale, the offer would increase their hourly rate from £7.78 now to £9.00 in April 2019 – 15.65% increase.
The offer also includes a new national pay spine, which would take effect on 1 April 2019.
National Employers said it would add another 5.6% to the national pay bill over the two years covered by the offer.
Responding to the offer, local government unions said they would put it to their respective committees for consideration.
Heather Wakefield, head of local government at Unison, said: “Council and school support staff are the lowest paid workers across our public service and are long overdue a wage rise above the 1% cap.
“The government must now come up with the cash to fund local government properly so councils have the money to give their staff a wage increase that doesn’t put more services of jobs at risk.”
Rehana Azam, GMB national secretary, said the union would be giving the offer “the careful scrutiny and consideration it requires”.
Jim Kennedy, national officer at Unite, said: “Unite will be considering the detail of the pay offer and consulting with its members.”
The offer excludes council chief executives, senior officers, firefighters and teachers who are covered by separate pay arrangements.
