Wirral council staff asked to reject 10 percent pay offer

The Wirral Unison branch has called a 10% pay rise for some workers a pay cut and is urging members to reject it.

The union claims some Wirral council and school staff earning more than £40,000 will also see a pay cut of nearly £4,000 a year under current proposals.

David Jones, Wirral Unison's Secretary, said that the pay offer affects the vast majority of council workers including all staff in schools except teachers, those who provide disability support or social and housing workers. 

Wirral Unison is arguing that due to rising inflation the pay offer is in fact a drop in income.

It claims that those currently earning £18,333 will see a pay cut of £329 and those earning between £40,000 and £48,000 would see a pay cut between £3,000 and £4,000.

The National Joint Council (NJC) pay offer includes an increase of £1,925 for workers earning £18,333 and above as well as an increase in allowances and one more day of annual leave.

This is the equivalent to a 10% rise in pay for those on the lowest incomes with all workers earning up to £47,665 seeing a rise of at least 4%. It would affect 350 councils across the country including Wirral Council.

The NJC determines the pay for council workers as well as those who provide council services such as schools and social services for the Local Government Association (LGA). 

The Wirral Unison branch said: "Every member will be worse off if the NJC's offer is accepted, and that's before the unprecedented hike in gas and electric prices." Unison nationally have adopted a neutral stance in response to the pay offer.

The union branch will be sending out an email ballot on August 26 urging members to reject the proposal.

David Jones, the Wirral Branch Secretary for Unison said: "People are angry about the lack of genuine pay rises for them. There is a lot of anger out there." He said that further action might be taken.

He said this anger was directed at the national government and said many councils, including Wirral, were under significant financial pressure.

The pay offer affects 1.5 million workers nationwide and will increase the national pay to council staff by £1.045bn by March 2023 according to the LGA. The pay offer does not apply to teachers or firefighters who are covered by separate payment schemes. 

In a letter to Unison in July, Naomi Cooke, the Employers' Secretary, said: "The National Employers hope this final offer can quickly form the basis of an agreement between the two sides so that employees, who continue to provide such critical support to their communities, can receive a pay rise as soon as practicable."

The LGA said additional funding was needed to meet future pay rises and that jobs and services were at risk. Other union branches are also advising workers to reject the offer with Unite also balloting for further action. 

Wirral Council declined to comment as the issue is negotiated and agreed nationally.