Commenting on the Chancellor’s Budget statement today (Wednesday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
“The chancellor had much to say on how to revive the economy but strangely silent on public services.
“Workers and services at the heart of the country’s pandemic will be more concerned with what Rishi Sunak – so keen to stress his honest approach – didn’t announce today.
“There was no extra money for a social care system on its knees. Staff are highly skilled but lowly paid and barely earn the legal minimum.
“No funding lifeline for councils struggling to provide services holding communities together.
“No mention of cash to raise the morale of exhausted NHS workers and grant the pay rise they’ve more than earned.
“Nothing for key workers who’ve given their all, not a single helping. The government has an odd way of saying thanks.
“It’s no way to treat staff who’ve put their lives on the line, gone out of their way to care for our loved ones and kept the country going in the pandemic’s darkest days.
“Years of under-investment has left the NHS and other essential services ill-prepared and struggling.
“Economic recovery and rescuing beleaguered public services should go hand in hand. Both are essential in the kind of society in which we all want to live.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: l.chinchen@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
