Unions table their demands ‘Pay rises need to reflect the cost of living and keep pace with inflation’
Rail workers
The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) is seeking a pay rise of at least seven per cent, its general secretary said on Sunday. Mick Lynch said the union was demanding a deal that “reflects” the cost of living and keeps pace with inflation. Ahead of talks on Sunday with Network Rail, which ended in failure, Mr Lynch gave the first on-the-record indication of the RMT’S requirements to settle the dispute in an interview with Sky News. Aslef, the train drivers’ union, is also demanding a pay increase in line with the rising cost of living and has announced strike action over pay by drivers at Greater Anglia, Hull Trains, and on trams in Croydon, south London. A second rail union, the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) is planning to ballot 6,000 National Rail staff to demand a pay increase that reflects the rising cost of living. If members vote to strike, industrial action could take place from Monday July 25.
Bus drivers
Bus drivers in Yorkshire belonging to Unite voted in favour of strike action this month after Arriva’s offer of a 4.1 per cent rise. Arriva staff in Merseyside and Greater Manchester have also voted for strike action.
Teachers
The National Education Union (NEU) has said it would ballot members on industrial action during the autumn term if they are not given a pay rise that matches inflation. The National Association of Schoolmasters/ Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), said it would ballot members on industrial action if they are not given a 12 per cent pay rise. In March, the Government submitted its evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) which proposed an 8.9 per cent increase to teachers’ starting salaries but a three per cent increase for their more experienced colleagues.
Health workers
A number of the biggest health service unions have threatened strike action unless their requests are met, with the largest demand a 22 per cent rise for junior doctors. The doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), said earlier this month that it would consider a strike ballot unless junior doctors receive a 22 per cent rise by the end of the year because, it claims, junior doctors’ pay has fallen 22 per cent in real terms since 2009. The Royal College of Nursing has also said it may take action if nurses’ pay award is unacceptable.
Barristers Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) overwhelmingly voted to refuse to take on new cases from June 27. There will then be walkouts on the following Monday and Tuesday, and three days the following week until they go on strike for a full week from July 18. The action will then become indefinite. The CBA’S strike is in protest at the 15 per cent increase in the legal aid budget, which it calls inadequate. It is demanding a minimum of 25 per cent.
Local government
The three unions, Unison, GMB and
Unite, have demanded a pay rise to match the retail prices index rate of inflation – 11.1 per cent, or at least £2,000 for those on lower salaries. Unison is also balloting 25,000 workers in Scotland on industrial action after rejecting a 2 per cent increase.
Civil servants
The Public and Commercial Services Union will ballot members on industrial action later this year. It wants a national pay rise of 10 per cent but Whitehall proposes average pay increases of around 2 per cent.