Blog: I urge members to make sure they have their say on pay

UNISON members working for the Environment Agency, together with Scottish health members, are being consulted on their respective pay offers. If you’re an NHS worker in Scotland, you only have a few days left to have your say on the 5% pay offer. UNISON, along with other health unions, asked for an above inflation pay award, so we’re asking members to reject the pay deal. For EA members, the consultative ballot that opened this week closes on 2 September. The agency is underfunded, and its workers are undervalued and underpaid. I’ve said before that poverty is created by political choices – and pay is decided by choices too. Choices are made by the Cabinet Office about how much money the agency gets to protect the environment, support our communities and reward staff. I urge our EA members to reject the insulting pay offer of 2% plus £345, which follows a 0% rise for most staff in 2021, which itself came after a decade of below inflation pay deals. Unsurprisingly, workers in both the NHS and the EA are suffering from the cost of living crisis. Wages are thousands of pounds below where they would be now if they’d kept up with inflation over the last decade. Earning enough to live in the present and plan for the future is not a reality for most public service workers. NHS and EA staff work in very different circumstances, but have the shared aim of protecting people’s health. Their work is interlinked, as a poor environment doesn’t support a healthy population. ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: General secretary's blog News environment agency NHS pay Scotland WET Source Type: news