Public sector staff to be awarded pay rises of up to 3pc
PUBLIC sector workers will receive their largest pay rise in years as part of a £140million package.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay confirmed he would award public sector staff earning less than £30,000 a year a 3 per cent rise.
Those on earnings above that will get a 2 per cent pay rise, capped at £1,600 for those with salaries above £80,000.
But unions and opposition politicians said some councils may be unable to afford the pledge because of their tight financial settlement.
They pointed out the policy will only be a ‘benchmark’ for negotiations with NHS staff, police, firefighters and other public sector staff. Until this year’s Budget rises were capped at 1 per cent across the UK.
In yesterday’s announcement, Mr Mackay described his pay policy as ‘progressive’. He said: ‘Once again, the Scottish Government is leading by example, delivering on our promises and putting fairness at the heart of what we do. Our decision to lift the pay cap will benefit thou- sands of nurses and other healthcare staff. I know that I speak for everyone in the chamber when I thank our NHS staff for the work that they do in caring for the people of Scotland.’ Officials said the pay deal will cost £140million.
However, unions said the deal was still a ‘real terms cut in pay’ for many. The Scottish Trades Union Congress said the Budget ‘falls short of the commitment to our public workers and services that Scotland deserves’.
Its statement said: ‘Scottish workers have made their demands clear, and dialogue between the STUC and Derek Mackay has emphasised the urgency of a real-terms pay rise for all public workers.
‘He can expect to see a sustained campaign from public workers to begin a real process of restoring their livelihood.’
It added: ‘Every public worker in Scotland deserves a pay rise at inflation level or above.’
Labour said the pay rises may not apply to almost half of all public sector workers covered in the Scottish Budget, as documents state the policy will only be a ‘benchmark’ for workforce groups including NHS Scotland, firefighters and police, teachers and further education staff, while local government employee negotiations are dealt with by councils.
Scottish Labour finance spokesman James Kelly said: ‘Buried in the small print it turns out that around 243,000 public sector workers are not guaranteed a pay rise. Derek Mackay seems to expect councils to deliver a real-terms pay rise when he is slashing their budgets. This is just smoke and mirrors from the SNP.’
BMA Scotland also warned that the announcement amounts to another real-terms cut for many NHS doctors.
Chairman Dr Peter Bennie said: ‘When recruitment and retention is such a challenge, and against a background of long-term pay restraint, this is extremely disappointing.’
Unison Scottish organiser Dave Watson said: ‘A real-terms increase for workers below £30,000 in the pay policy is a move in the right direction but for many others a 2 per cent increase is another real-terms cut in pay. However, an unfunded pay policy is of no value for council workers.’
‘Just smoke and mirrors ’