Unions UNISON, UNITE and the GMB, said today that local government
workers were facing a grim 2011, after their employers refused to make a pay
offer.
Local government workers have been hit with below inflation pay settlements
for five out of the last seven years. Even those earning under £21,000 will not
get the much-hyped £250 increase George Osborne promised them in the
Emergency Budget. Hundreds of thousands of staff are facing the prospect of
losing their jobs, and all are being hit with a 3% hike in their pensions
contributions.
At the same time, inflation and VAT hikes have piled the pressure onto family
budgets. The price of fuel has gone up by 37% since Jan 2007, and food has
gone up by 25% in the same period.
Recent research* revealed a Ôpoverty premiumÕ, whereby low-income families
spend nearly £1,300 more each year on basic goods, services and on heating
their homes than better off workers. This will include many local government
staff, as two thirds earn less than £18,000.
Heather Wakefield, UNISON Head of Local Government, said:
ÒWhile the employers stall on whether to make a pay offer or not, local
government workers are struggling with the rising cost of basic living. Low-
income families spend a big proportion of their income on everyday goods
like food and fuel. What little disposable income they did have has been eaten
up by consistently high inflation.
ÒOur members Ð people who provide vital local services like home care, who
work as teaching assistants and bin men are facing severe hardship.
Meanwhile, the bankers who caused this crisis are caught in different shower
altogether Ð as bonus billions rain down on them, as if this economic crisis
they caused had never even happened.Ó
Peter Allenson, Unite national organiser, said:
ÒAfter recent years of below inflation pay awards and last years pay freeze,
which effectively was a pay cut when inflation had taken its toll, low paid local
government workers are being pushed into poverty.
ÒThe employers didn’t even observe the miserly government pay policy last
year of £250 pounds for those earning less than £21,000.
ÒUnite members are outraged that having had the claim for some months
now there has been no offer made. If the employers dont start treating their
workforce with more respect local services will be damaged beyond repair.”
GMB National Secretary, Brian Strutton, said:
“ItÕs apparent that local government leaders are in a state of shock over their
budget cuts.
“But that should not prevent them giving proper consideration to the
reasonable pay claim we submitted.
“Council workers are going through hell and they have a right to be treated
with dignity and respect by their employers.”
*Research by Save the Children, out on Jan 11 2011.
