GMB members have voted to reject a 3.3% pay offer from the Local Government Association (LGA) for 2026/27, joining UNISON and Unite in turning down the deal.
The ballot, which covered almost 150,000 school staff, carers and other council workers, also saw members condemn the LGA's failure to address long-overdue regrading processes for school support staff working with SEND children – an issue unions say regularly leaves workers underpaid.
GMB National Officer Kevin Brandstatter said members had ‘massively rejected this meagre offer,’ adding that staff were ‘fed up with being undervalued and overstretched’ while facing rising bills driven by international instability.
The GMB's Local Government and Schools Committees will now meet to discuss next steps, with all three major unions having rejected the offer and the prospect of coordinated industrial action growing.
