Fair pay rise for council staff would be affordable, says UNISON

The pay claim for council workers is affordable and will provide benefits for the wider economy across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to a new analysis published today (Wednesday) by UNISON. UNISON, Unite and GMB are calling for wages to rise to £10 per hour for the lowest paid local government workers, with a 10% rise for other members of staff for 2020/21. New research by Landman Economics, commissioned by UNISON, shows the actual net cost of the claim is less than half (49%) the overall projected cost of £1.6bn. If council workers got a decent pay rise, central government would save hundreds of millions of pounds, says UNISON. Council employees include refuse collectors, library staff, teaching assistants and care workers who help communities to function. This is because employees would be earning more so wouldn’t need to claim additional benefits and would pay extra tax and national insurance. People would also spend the extra money in their pockets giving a boost to local economies, says UNISON. Years of pay freezes or minimal rises mean that many people have lost more than a fifth of their pay in the past decade, says the union. UNISON is calling on the Treasury to fund a fair pay rise for staff as a matter of urgency. The union’s analysis found the true net cost of funding the council pay rise would be £789m. UNISON head of local government Jon Richards said: “Council budgets are under unbelievable strain after years of cuts. It’s high time m...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: News Press release council pay Jon Richards local government pay 2014 public sector pay Source Type: news