Responding to the spending review announcement by chancellor George Osborne, UNISON (West Midlands) regional secretary, Ravi Subramanian, said:
“Today’s spending review reveals the true extent of the government’s failure. Claims that private sector jobs are replacing lost public sector jobs just don’t add up.
“Last month the West Midlands saw another rise in unemployment up to 249,000 people, the second highest regional figure in the West Midlands, and this spending review is set to make things worse.
“The bulk of these extra cuts will fall in local government despite West Midlands councils already having had to deal with disproportionately savage cuts compared to other regions with fewer social challenges.
“A block on incremental progression shows the chancellor has no idea how the process works.Most staff will reach the top of their pay band in their first 3-5 years and the framework takes into account competences.
“This unfair measure dished out by the chancellor, once again attacks dedicated hardworking people. I ask is this any way to reward our nurses, schools assistants and police community workers?
“The government is running the risk of experienced workers, previously invested in, voting with their feet, and could lead to a critical skills shortage in our hospitals, schools and communities.
“Local government workers have recently suffered an imposed 3% pay freeze, three quarters of staff earn less than £21,000, and the majority of these are women.
“The alternative sensible measure should be to use local government as a part of the engine for economic growth, but instead the chancellor is consigning yet more council workers to low pay or the dole, cutting vital services for vulnerable people further and tightening its strangle hold on economic growth.
“Public service workers spend the vast majority of their wages in local shops and businesses. By contrast the big city bonuses and dividends drain money away from the UK to all parts of the globe.”
“Sadly the Chancellor has got it horribly wrong again – the economy is flat lining and yet all we get is more of the same… the pain of austerity”
(Press contact: Ravi Subramanian, UNISON West Midlands regional secretary)
