Calls for more cash to fund public sector wages
SUNDERLAND COUNCILLORS URGED TO BACK MOVE FOR FAIRER PAY
The seven-year public sector pay cap is to be scrapped from next year, with ministers given “flexibility” to breach the long-standing limit of 1% on rises.
Theannouncementcame as Downing Street unveiled a 1.7% hike for prison officers and improvements totalling 2% in police pay for 2017/18.
The end of the ceiling on public sector rises came after massive pressure from unions and Labour.
Next week a notice of motion will be raised by Sunderland councillors recognising public sector pay has fallen by 21% since 2010 in real terms and that employees have seen a crippling reduction in their standard of living.
It said the council wants to see an immediate end to the pay restraint and the Government to fund National Joint Council pay claim.
Nationally, unions made clear in their initial responses that the Government’s latest move and pay offers fell well short of their aspirations.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady branded the increases for police and prison officers “pathetic”, on a day when the latest inflation figures showed prices rising by 2.9% annually.
The POA prison officers’ union said it was seeking industrial action over an offer which it said effectively amounted to a pay cut and would leave a majority of staff with rises of just 1.3%.
Meanwhile, police chiefs warned that the pay award would put financial pressure on forces’ already-stretched budgets and could impact on their ability to deliver services and avoid job cuts.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss, said review bodies and departments were being given greater leeway to use pay to address “pinch points” within public sector staffing.
She said: “What we are making sure is that we look at it on a workforce-by-workforce basis because there are very different issues for teachers than for nurses and for police officers.”
Theresa May’s spokesman said cabinet ministers “agreed that public sector workers are among the most talented and hard-working people in our society.
“They, like everyone else, deserve to have fulfilling jobs that are properly rewarded.
“Government will continue to ensure that the overall package for public sector workers recognises the vital contribution they make and ensures we can deliver world-class public services, while also being affordable within the public finances and fair to taxpayers as a whole.”
Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Vince Cable, said: “It is good to see the Government finally recognise that the public sector pay cap is no longer sustainable.
“The cap must now be lifted across the board so all public sector workers are given the pay rise they deserve.”