Angry unions say that the announcement of three-year pay deals and a cap of 2 per cent makes a mockery of pay bargaining procedures and the pay review panels system.
Unite, the largest trade union with more than 1 million members, says that Chancellor Alistair Darling’s plans for public sector workers to be party to three-year pay deals “rides roughshod over trade unions, employees and independent pay review bodies”.
Unite says that although it is not in principle opposed to longer term pay deals, it is incredibly angry that the Chancellor’s announcement was made without any consultation with the trade unions.
Gail Cartmail, Unite’s head of the public sector, said: “What we are absolutely opposed to is the government’s dictatorial stance, not only on pay procedures but in capping the amount that our members will be paid. Our members covered by Pay Review Bodies respect their independence and have never rejected even modest increases agreed through them.”
Cartmail went on to urge the government to stop what he called their “macho and bullish posturing”.
According to the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the plans are completely “unacceptable”. Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS, said: “The fear is that what the government have in mind are three-year pay deals similar to that imposed in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which delivers a pay cut in real terms and sees 40 per cent of staff receive no pay rise in the second year.”
Unite is submitting evidence to the Pay Review Body for NHS workers this week.
