Local government trade union leaders met today and called for an
urgent meeting with Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, as they
moved closer to taking industrial action over pay.
At joint talks last month (11 July) council bosses told unions that
they needed more time to weigh up the consequences of
improving the 2% pay offer – a paltry increase worth less than £1 a
day to the majority of 1.4 million council workers covered by the
offer. But last night they informed unions that they needed yet more
time to arrive at a decision.
UNISON National Officer for Local Government Lucille Thirlby
said:
ÒThe majority of local council workers are poorly paid and to keep
them dangling like this is insulting to the hard work they carry out
in our local communities. The pay offer, as it stands, falls well
below living cost rises and workers are finding it more and more
difficult to make ends meet.Ó
Peter Allenson, T&G section of Unite, national organiser for public
services said:
ÒThe employers continue to say that to meet the claim is
unaffordable, however we know the majority of authorities have
budgeted much more than 2%. Alongside that we know there is a
huge amounts of public money being paid to agencies to provide
workers for local government and a high use of self employed
consultants within local government.Ó
Brian Strutton, GMB National Secretary for Local Government said:
ÒWe are sick to death of Council leaders unable to make up their
minds what to do about their workers pay. 1.4 million low paid
employees deserve more respect than this. We have had to put
plans for industrial action into place but we want to try to avoid that.
That is why we are asking Hazel blears to bash heads together.Ó
The bottom pay rate in local government of £5.80 pence an hour is
the lowest in the public sector and almost 300,000 women such as
home carers, teaching assistants and residential care workers
earn less than £6 an hour. The 2% offer would add less than 12
pence an hour – or £4.50 a week – to the pay slips of the lowest
paid.
In February 2007, unions called for the low paid council workers to
receive a 5% pay increase, or £1,000 a year, whichever was the
greater. More than sixty per cent of those covered by the pay claim
earn just £15,825 or less, some £8,000 less than the national
average. Seventy five per cent of these workers are women.
Between 2004 and 2006 pay in local government rose by only
8.9%, falling behind the rise in national earnings and the huge
increase in fuel, housing and living costs. Householders now have
to pay on average £20 a week for electricity and gas – £9 more
than in 2003. And the Industrial Relations Survey panel of experts
expect average earnings growth to run at 4.3% during 2007.