For our members working in local government, the reality of everyday life is looking pretty bleak. Uncertainty over jobs, hovering inflation and a rise in the cost of everyday essentials, meant that for many workers Easter was more of a struggle than a beach holiday.
Public sector workers saw their pay fall again in the first three months of this year. It is still below the level of 2008, and for some local government workers it is back to the level of the 1990s.
Despite the government’s boasts about a “recovery”, our members in local government have been offered an increase of just 1% this year, with slightly more for the lowest paid who are perilously close to falling below the minimum wage.
Given that real take-home pay in the public sector is 1% lower than it was a year ago, an offer of 1% is not a rise at all – it just means more treading water.
We will find out later this week how our local government members feel about this offer, and whether they want to be balloted for strike action.
But what we do know already is that if there really was a recovery, local government workers would not be working in more than one job just to make ends meet.
They would not be working on zero hour contracts, and they would not be relying on in-work benefits to supplement wages that for many sit just above the national minimum wage.
After four long years of this government’s disastrous austerity policy, what our members in local government desperately need is a pay packet that recognises the vital job they do in keeping local services running.
