Police staff: More needs to be done on pay

Debate on the second day of UNISON’s police and justice conference in Brighton was dominated by emergency motions calling for a fair pay award and opposing the pay freeze for police and probation staff announced by the Westminster government. As one delegate from the East Midlands put it, clapping for public service workers “does not pay my bills. [Home secretary] Priti Patel sends a letter – a letter doesn’t pay my bills.” But there was acknowledgement too that more needs to be done to engage members in consultations to ensure that pressure can be brought on the employer. Karen Pearl from Lancashire spoke about how her branch had “worked really hard and got a turn out of 70%. We cannot accept that there is no money – the forces have budgeted for a pay rise, so why are we sitting here? Dave Bryant from West Mercia Police made the point that there is no “public sector pay freeze”, because some public services are being offered some sort of rise, even when it’s below the rate of inflation, whereas police and justice service staff are being offered 0%. He called on activists to “empower our own members,” while other speakers said it’s vital that activists tackle that “apathy”, with suggestions that action short of a strike – particularly, working only to the letter of a contract – could be every bit as effective. Michelle Brewster of Police Staff Scotland, says Scottish members have received an offer, but they are still in negotiations because t...
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