I was surprised by the muted reaction on CareSpace to the latest decision to freeze pay for all council staff, including the lowest-paid workers.
Comments ranged from "I'm just glad to be in a secure job" to "I suppose we don't have much choice". Only one CareSpace user was up in arms.
nigel reigate wrote: "I'm flabbergasted and disgusted that so many respondents to this thread seem to be meekly accepting this proposal to freeze [i.e. cut] our pay. The employers' use of the excuse that this is because of the recession is disingenuous and to say that it's to protect jobs is nothing less than scare tactics."
Of course, we are in a recession and pay cuts can prevent or put off the need for job cuts. But teachers, nurses and police look set to get a pay rise of 2.3% or more from April - so why not council staff?
Trade unions Unite, Unison and GMB are holding an emergency meeting to determine a plan of action. GMB's national secretary Brian Strutton said: "I guarantee the mood will be very angry."
He might be surprised.
In other news, it sounds like Jan Parkinson, managing director of Local Government Employers, may have taken a creative writing course over Christmas. Explaining the decision to freeze council workers' pay, she said:
"Councils are facing a perfect storm of falling revenues and increasing demand for services. [...] Town halls have been swept by the cold winds of recession for more than a year and that means difficult choices have to be made."
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