Unison/GMB/Unite accept 1% local government pay deal

Unison, GMB and Unite members in English, Welsh and Northern Irish councils have voted to accept a 1% pay increase for 2009-10.

Council bosses decided in July to up their initial 0.5% offer made earlier this year to 1% following intensive campaigning by unions.

The deal included an additional 0.25% for low-paid council workers earning up to £13,703 a year and an extra day’s annual leave for all.

Pay freeze threatened

The settlement follows months of wrangling during which employers threatened to freeze local government pay unless unions accepted the original offer

In a joint statement, union representatives Heather Wakefield (Unison), Brian Strutton (GMB) and Peter Allenson (Unite) said: “Acceptance of the offer comes at a time when our members are facing daily threats to jobs and services. They are providing vital council services with the threat of redundancy constantly hanging over them.

“This vote reflects that threat. We will now be working hard to show the public and service users how much our members do – for so little – in the run-up to next year’s negotiations

LGA welcomes news

A Local Government Association spokesperson said the announcement was good news. The pay deal will now be implemented, with the increase backdated to 1 April.

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