A fair deal for council staff

9.55.00am GMT Fri 5th Mar 2010

Unison, GMB and Unite unions are fighting for a fair deal for council front-line staff. They acknowledge that many Liberal Democrat councillors support them regarding the 'massive value' of local government workers and the recognition that 'those at the bottom end of the pay scales are often paid poor rates for the value that they add'.

As unions representing the 1.6 million local government workers, they welcome the national Liberal Democrat policy of 'proposed national tax changes that would take anyone earning less than £10,000 out of paying tax altogether' and the '£400 per year maximum increase, irrespective of current salary levels, for public sector pay'.

One of the problems in pay negotiations in the fixation on percentages. An increase across the board of 1% sounds fair, but in fact gives large increases to those already on high earnings, and a small increase to those on low earnings.

After finding room for so much common ground, our members were disappointed to note the Lib Dems alignment with the Tory controlled LGE 'no offer' position on pay. They say, "We find it difficult to understand how you can justify an increase for one group of public sector workers and yet support nothing for those working in local government. As you know, many of our members are increasingly asked to work alongside other members of the public sector who are on much better terms and conditions.

"In justifying the 'no offer' many Liberal Democrat councillors raised concerns over pressures in the private sector compared to local government. We know that there is a media myth around the extent of pay freezes in the private sector. Whilst around 30% of companies and unions negotiated a pay freeze in 2009, the broader reality was very different! The private sector twelve-month average pay award fell from 3.5% at the end of 2008 to 1.9% in October 2009 (Bank of England - Structural Economic Analysis Division, Quarterly Bulletin, Q4 2009). This was still much higher than the 1-1.25% pay rise that local government workers received.

"It is true to say that revenue from car parking and land charges has fallen. However, with low interest rates councils have been able to better service their debt. And let's not forget that local authorities in England at 1 April 2009 had £3,351 million in unallocated reserves - an increase of £47million on 1 April 2008, according to the Office for National Statistics."

The unions point out that their members' morale is already low and no offer will have a continuing negative effect on goodwill. Their 'Time for Change' members' survey of 3500 members in 2008 showed that 31% worked extra hours without pay or time-off-in-lieu. The TUC estimates that £3.2 billion is added to the economy by 4 million public sector workers every year through working unpaid overtime.

The BBC 'Facing the Cuts' survey predicts widespread job losses over the next three to five years based on anticipated spending reductions of anywhere between 0-30%. At least some of the variation in spending reductions can be explained through political choices, not financial inevitability, and workers will be expected to fill the gaps left by redundancies.

The unions say they are pleased to note the Lib Dem proposals of £400 across the board increase for public sector workers, similar to their own understanding of what an equitable settlement should be in local government - a £500 flat rate increase or 2.5%, whichever is the greater.

They conclude, "We urge you to re-consider your position and apply a consistent approach to public sector pay. Our members would like to know why the Liberal Democrats appear to value local government workers far less than other public sector workers. We need much more than sympathy with our position; we need your active and public support. Once again, we are asking you to write to the Chairman of the LGA, Margaret Eaton, urging the LGA and the Local Government Employers to award our members a decent pay increase this year."