‘Overwhelming evidence pay cap has been disastrous’

THE Government’s cap on public sector pay has been “disastrous” for workers, who face a reduction in real earnings of £52 a week in the coming years, a union leader will warn today.

Cardiff-born Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, will accuse the Government of viewing its own staff with “contempt”. In a speech to his union’s annual conference today he will warn that if the pay cap continues under a future Tory government, average civil service pay will have fallen in value by more than 20% by 2020.

He will say: “The pay cap has been disastrous for all public sector workers, for public services and for economic growth.

“The evidence is overwhelming. For workers in the public sector real earnings will be down £52 a week by 2022 from their pre-crisis (2008) level.

“The value of average pay in the civil service has fallen further than in the rest of the public sector, and in the economy as a whole.

“It’s clear the Government has viewed its own staff with contempt when it comes to pay.

“If the pay cap continues – as we know it will under a Tory government – average civil service pay will have fallen in value by over 20% by 2020.

“The facts and figures show we have a strong case, but we know that this alone will not be enough.

“There are others who share our commitment to fighting back, campaigning and organising, of finding new and innovative ways to recruit, to organise, to campaign, to strike and to win for members.”

Public sector pay rises are currently pegged at 1%.