Local government unions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have asked the government to make sure to make sure a decent pay award for school and council staff is properly funded in this week’s local government settlement.
The call came in a joint letter to chancellor Philip Hammond signed by UNISON national secretary Heather Wakefield, Rehana Azam of the GMB and Unite’s Jim Kennedy.
The letter follows a pay offer of 2% increases in 2018 and in 2019, with higher increases for lower aid staff to ensure the lowest pay point if the local government pay spine “is aligned with the national living wage.”
It is the fourth time the unions have written to the chancellor, so far without response.