Why local government workers are on strike today

UNISON’s local government and school support members have delivered a decisive verdict for strike action today. By taking the incredibly difficult decision to lose a valuable day’s pay, our members have said that enough is enough. 

We are asking local government employers for a £1.20 an hour minimum increase for all.

This would bring the bottom rate of pay in local government to the level of the Living Wage, and help restore some of the pay lost across the whole workforce. 

We believe that all local government and school workers deserve to be paid at least the Living Wage.

The UK Government has had local government pay and conditions squarely in its sights since 2010. A pay freeze in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and below-inflation rises in eight of the last seventeen years has sent the pay packets of local government and school workers plummeting back to the level of the 1990s.  This year’s offer would result in a cumulative real-term cut of almost 20% for more than one million local government and school workers. 

The latest figures from the House of Common’s library show that the number of people claiming in-work benefits has rocketed by almost 60% in recent years.

On top of this drastic decline in basic pay, pay-related cuts at local level are now widespread. Employers have been waging war for several years on unsocial hours payments, hours of work, annual leave, sick pay and even maternity pay. Car allowances have been frozen or cut in most councils over the past three years, leaving many social workers, planners and homecare workers to subsidise their employers in order to do their jobs. 

Our claim is affordable.

A pay rise for local government and school support workers would be offset by workers paying higher tax and national insurance contributions and receiving less in tax credits and benefits. In addition to this, councils have £19bn in reserves sitting in their coffers.

School and council workers are tired of the Government treating them like they are at the bottom of the pile. They are tired of going that extra mile for worse than nothing. Despite cuts to services and job losses, they continue to educate and support children in schools, maintain crucial local services, keep our communities clean and safe places to live and protect the homeless and vulnerable.

Politicians from all sides are calling for action to end low pay and introduce the Living Wage.

If they are serious, they should put their own house in order and make sure that local government and school support workers are taken off poverty pay and given the £1.20 an hour increase we are calling for. 

Dominic MacAskill is UNISON Cymru/Wales Head of Local Government