Laura Sharman 29 September 2014

Council leaders ‘disappointed’ by rejection of new pay deal

An offer to give council staff a 2.2% pay increase in a bid to avoid further strike action has been rejected, according to council bosses.

In a letter sent to chief executives, the Local Government Association said it had offered a ‘long-term’ pay deal to run until 31 March 2016, which included a 2.2% pay increase and a new minimum hourly rate of £7 per hour.

However, the deal was on the provision of trade unions calling off the strike planned for 14 October. The LGA said the deal had been rejected by Unison who refused to call off the strike and put the new proposal out to its wider membership.

In the letter, the LGA’s head of workforce, Sarah Messenger, said she was ‘extremely disappointed’ by Unison’s decision as GMB and Unite would have called off industrial action and put the offer to their members had Unison not rejected the proposal.

She wrote: ‘This situation is enormously frustrating and highlights the failure of Unison’s national leadership and activists to approach national negotiations in a strategic way with a view to the medium and longer-term.

‘They have, we believe, done a great disservice to the overwhelming majority of their ordinary members by not allowing them to make up their own minds on the details of the revised pay proposal and consult their memberships.’

Ms Messenger said the closeness of the national minimum wage to the bottom pay point in local government did not ‘sit easily’ with council bosses, who ‘have tried to think imaginatively about the shape of this proposal’.

But she said there was difficulty striking a fair balance between doing the right thing by staff and not making councils’ financial positions worse at a time of unprecedented pressures on the sector’s finances.

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

Principal Transport Planner (Strategy)

North Northamptonshire Council
£46,731-£49,764
We are looking for an experienced professional to join North Northamptonshire Council as a Principal Transport Planner (Strategy). Sheerness House, 41 Meadow Road, Kettering moving to Haylock House, Kettering Parkway, Kettering NN15 6EY, United Kingdom
Recuriter: North Northamptonshire Council

Highways Capital Delivery Manager

South Wales Trunk Road Agent
£50,788 - £52,805
To be responsible for the implementation of Welsh Government’s Renewal and Upgrade programme. Baglan, Port Talbot
Recuriter: South Wales Trunk Road Agent

Senior Engineer x 2

Hounslow London Borough Council
£47,532 –£55,620 per annum
Our people are deeply committed to providing excellent services to our residents, doing all we can to make lives as good as they can be. Hounslow (City/Town), London (Greater)
Recuriter: Hounslow London Borough Council

Part Time Prison Library Assistant - HMP/YOI Chelmsford

Essex County Council
£25081.00 - £27653.00 per annum + Pro Rata
Part Time Prison Library Assistant - HMP/YOI ChelmsfordFixed Term, Part Time£25,081 to £27,653 Per Annum, Full Time EquivalentLocation
Recuriter: Essex County Council

Head of SEN Assessment & Resolution

The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Council
£77136 - £88230 per annum
Shape a fairer future for children with special educational needs.As Head of SEN Assessment and Resolution at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chel England, London
Recuriter: The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Council
Linkedin Banner