UNISON’s local government and school support members are striking on Thursday for fair pay.
Here are 10 reasons why 10 July is so important.
1. These workers keep your services going day in day out, despite savage government cuts to vital services and jobs. They look after the elderly, the vulnerable and help educate our children. Almost half a million jobs have gone with those left doing far more for far less.
2. The current government offer leaves most workers with pay worth almost 20% less than in 2010.
3. Falling pay also means loss of pension for the rest of these low paid workers lives.
4. Another pay cut won’t save jobs – despite a pay freeze, jobs have gone and services continue to be stripped to the bone, privatised or stopped all together. There’s no reason to believe a pay cut will stop this.
5. Low pay is bad for workers and bad for the economy. That’s why politicians from all parties are calling for an end to low pay. Many local government workers rely on benefits to pay bills. Right now, the taxpayer is subsidising local government to pay poverty wages.
6. Paying all local government workers a living wage will boost Treasury coffers by around £0.9bn every year from increased tax and national insurance take – shifting many off in-work benefits and reducing the bill to taxpayers.
7. Over 100 councils already pay the living wage. If these councils can afford it, why can’t every local authority? Our claim would make the living wage the minimum pay rate for every council and school support worker.
8. The UK is the 7th richest nation on earth, surely we can afford good social care, housing and libraries while paying workers a living wage?
9. Councils have got over £19bn in the bank. Some of that could be spent on paying a decent wage, which would give workers more money to spend on local goods and services, helping local businesses and creating jobs.
10. The pay and conditions of local government workers are the worst in the public sector – from top to bottom. It can’t carry on.
