Unison, GMB and Unite have rejected the 2009 pay offer of 0.5% from local government employers, raising fears that council staff could be left with a wage freeze.
Following a meeting of the pay negotiation body the National Joint Council for Local Government Services on 22 April, the unions issued a short statement to say they had formally rejected the offer.
Unions had previously been told by the National Employers for Local Government Services that staff would be left with no pay increase at all unless they accepted the 0.5% offer by 1 June 2009. The deadline was labelled “unreasonable” by Unison head of local government Heather Wakefield, who said that would be a struggle for unions to properly consult their members over the proposal.
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