Council workers are being urged to demand an across-the-board pay rise and better leave arrangements, as unions prepare to fight anticipated cuts and pay restraint in local government.
Unison, Unite and the GMB are advising their members to ask for a pay rise of at least £250 on all salaries, and a review of improved employment conditions requested by the unions two years ago, as part of next year’s government pay deal. It comes after employers refused to make a pay award this year.
However, union officials expect their members are more likely to resist job and pension cuts than a refused pay rise. Heather Wakefield, Unison’s head of local government, told Tribune: “Local government employees have had below inflation rises for years. We believe our claim is fair –and we know it is affordable.”
Unison maintains that the £250 claim would only increase the total pay bill by 1.2 per cent. In a statement to members, it said: “The only way to protect jobs, services, pay and pensions is to campaign to protect them with the other trade unions and by developing support from the general public.”
Trade union negotiators will use the consultation, which ends this week, to lodge a formal claim with council bosses next month. Brian Strutton, the GMB union’s head of local government, told Tribune he did not expect employers to refuse to make a pay offer again this year.
He added: “There isn’t an appetite among our members to get into a dispute about tiny fractions on a pay offer. However, the combination of job losses, service cuts and an attack on their pensions, it’s a perfect storm for industrial action at some stage.”
Councils have already seen their grants cut by over £1 billion this year, and further cuts are expected in Chancellor George Osborne’s spending review next month. A Local Government Association spokesperson said councils would consider their response after the spending review.
