Members of two of the three local government unions have rejected employers’ offer of a £1,290 pay rise for council staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2024-25.
UNISON, which has the largest representation among social workers across the UK, said a ballot of members working in local government resulted in a ‘no’ vote on what employers have described as their “full and final offer”.
Unite members have also rejected the offer, though those represented by GMB voted yes. With at least two of the three unions needing to agree a deal for it to go through, the votes set the scene for a protracted dispute over the offer, as has happened over the past two years.
What the offer means for social workers
- The offer applies to the vast majority of councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – those covered by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC) agreement.
- The NJC employers have offered staff on pay points 2-43 outside of London a rise of £1,290, with those higher up the pay scale offered 2.5%. The minimum for pay point 43 is £51,515 a year on a full-time wage.
- Staff in outer London are being offered £1,491 up to and including pay point 48 (minimum rate: £59,328), while those in inner London would receive £1,575 up to pay point 50 (£62,457).
- For a newly qualified social worker outside of London on the minimum of pay point 23 (£32,076), the proposal is worth 4%.
- For a more experienced social worker outside of the capital on the minimum of pay point 30 (£38,223), it is worth 3.4%.
- For a social worker in outer London on the minimum of point 30 (£40,833), it is worth 3.6%.
- For a practitioner in inner London the minimum of point 30 (£41,967), it is worth 3.75%.
- For a senior social worker outside London on the bottom of pay point 35 (£43,421), it is worth 3%.
“Council and school employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have voted to reject the employer’s local government pay offer in the union’s consultation,” said UNISON’s head of local government Mike Short.
No vote ‘must act as wake-up call’
Short said UNISON would decide on its next steps in the light of the results of the other two unions’ ballots.
Unite said 85% of those who voted rejected the offer and that it was now considering next steps, which were likely to include balloting for industrial action.
“For years local authority workers have seen real terms pay cuts and underinvestment that have brought the sector to its knees,” said its general secretary, Sharon Graham.
“This must act as a wake-up call that the sector desperately needs an injection of funding to ensure the workers it depends on are paid properly and vital frontline services can be properly delivered.
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No information on how many staff are employed and the number that are in the union, neither on the votes cast and what percentage voted No ?
I’m guessing this vote is by a very small minority of staff yet effects all staff , please publish the above so everyone can understand the detail.
If you are a Unison member and you haven’t voted the privilege of asking questions is not yours. If you are not a Unison member by all means ask the questions but perhaps forgo any pay increase or benefit union members win. The answers aren’t for Community Care to provide but if you really are interested Unison will. Time is now for social workers to actually break sweat personally rather than expect others to do the work for them.
Spot on
I’d gladly forgo any pay increase or benefit union members win if it means I get the pay rise being offered now.
Can you let me know how to do this?
When negotiations are concluded between employers and unions a pay figure will be settled and accepted. In the meantime you can ask your employer to give you what they think you are worth outside of tha.. If they tell you they don’t negotiate with individuals than you can refuse to accept what the union as settled. So if the employers offered £2 and the union secured £3 you can ask your employer to give you the £2.and the extra £1 you can ask them to donate to whichever charity your altruistic heart chooses. Simple.
You need to go speak with the employers tell them you not in the union and ask them nicely for a pay rise.
Your union will win you nothing, they are justifying the premiums Union members pay, losers are the low paid as 5.77% would be a good rise for them?
The unions don’t “win” these pay rises they are what have been offered. The unions delay my pay rise every year,
Simon, the whole world doesn’t revolve around you, These people pay a tidy sum to be in a Union and to be honest i am very appreciative of them saying no. The pittance we are being offered (2.5%) will surely not cripple you? Sometimes it is worth forgoing your own needs to get the best possible outcome, They may even get you more money out of it if they don’t give in. Just chill a little
People seem to be quite willing to take the win from Unions doing their job on behalf of us workers but still give them grief because the negotiations slow down their wage rise wich is back dated anyway!
Them holding everyone to ransom just means the council have to find more money to pay us and the backdate which will result in job losses because they have no money anyway!!! So the unions are effectively causing job losses!
or they are actually doing something about our appalling wages? at the moment councils are struggling to employ because the wages are so behind the private sector. The government want people to think like you do so they can walk all over us
The backdated payrise means that those of us who are topped up by Universal Credit lose out. Last year, I lost the whole of my UC for the month the backdated pay was awarded and several of my colleagues also lost out on the much-needed Cost of Living payment as the date parameters of the zero payment for UC fell badly.
Meaning that withholding a payrise for those of us who work and are entitled to claim benefits is detrimental and has a huge affect on our finances.
FYI I work full-time and am a single mum on a Grade 3 role which is why I am reliant on benefits
I work in a school as support staff and the problem is that each time we get a pay rise hours are cut and staff are reduced so I have actually seen my wages go down even after an hourly rate increase.I unions are asking for big pay rises they should make sure that employers don’t retaliate by cutting staff reducing staff hours
Sad to hear your story Malcolm. I haven’t heard of this happening in other schools. Sad really.
I can assure you it is happening . Schools cannot afford the pay rise when it is not fully funded. Support staff have had hours cut and some temporary contracts not renewed due to lack of funds. Head’s would love to pay more and value their staff but this needs to be fully funded.
Ruth, teaching assistants have had their hours reduced as another way of reducing costs in schools up and down the country.
At my school, three teaching assistants have left in the past few months, and another has switched to part-time, but there hasn’t been any rush to replace them. The departing staff gave a month’s notice, but the trust didn’t advertise their positions during that time. Now, the remaining TAs expect that job postings will appear in September, with recruitment not taking place until November. This means they are saving money equivalent to three and a half TA salaries. However, it seems they will only advertise for two TA positions, not three and a half. This pattern is common. Sometimes, the impact of staffing reductions is not immediately felt by the team losing members but is experienced elsewhere. For instance, another local school had to cut its two-person technician team to one in order to meet salary commitments for support staff over the past two years.
unions have little to no power. just send us the pay rise immediately
I agree. Delays only cost the employees as final offers rarely change
TBH, nothing will happen, They vote to reject but won’t take action, Its a no win situation. The only good thing is that it will be sorted just before Christmas so we get some backpay (Like the last two years)
It will be just like last years stalemate ….. nothing will happen then in Nov they will accept the pay rise and say “we’re concentrating on next years rise” …….
Unions needs to submit pay claims in advance of April instead of leaving it to the last minute. Individuals on Universal Credit will lose out again when the back pay is paid and lose a month’s UC due to a lump sum payment.
I definitely agree. Everything is so last minute compared with other unions. As a result of this, they will run out of time and accept a poor pay deal. I’ve only been with NJC pay since 2017 but it has been the same every year, except 2 year pay deals.
We really need to strike. I’m striking – I have simply had ENOUGH!
Full respect ,Sir. If this country had more people like you we probably wouldn’t be in this mess
When working we shouldn’t be on universal credit,PAY PROPER WAGES, two parents working on 45000 a year and still need to claim universal credit ro survive, it not right,pay people real wages
100% this will happen in my opinion. Always the same. Sad really. Teachers do not get treated like this.
I agree with you, wait almost all year to get what was originally offered…it’s happened for the last few years. It makes me cross because I could do with the extra now! I’m the sole wage earner now due to hubby health…. And I don’t understand how people live great lives on benefits as he gets bare minimum…
This will be the same “ savings scheme “ as past 2 years. Vote to reject offer, vote to reject industrial action, receive the back pay in December. Unless the new Labour government increases the offer?
It will be the same as every other year, reject pay offer, vote not to strike then get the same pay rise as offered in April in November
I’ve worked in Local Government nearly 20 years. I remember the days when an extra £20 a month was a good pay rise. We’ve had to good pay rises in two years but with each pay rise comes Councils and staff briefings saying budgets are struggling. I would rather have no further payrise for a couple of years, allow LAs to sort budgets out than get a pay rise and see job cuts as a result.
Ask your local authority and service chief executives what their pay rises have been before you are so generous with the pay of ordinary social workers to forgo a pay rise on our behalf. Why are social workers such perennial victims?
Because the unions are in league with the corporate managers when it comes to social workers standing up for themselves they back down and don’t support you
They are only useful for legal funding
They are rubbish
You’d rather see no pay rise for a couple of years and ‘allow LAs sort budgets’??
I’d rather see my colleagues not have to rely on food banks. I’d rather see fair pay for for fair work. I’d rather see young social workers feel empowered to stay in permanent roles rather than move to agency because they want to earn a salary that allows them to plan for the future. ‘Sorting out a budget’ means paying staff fairly.
if you rather see that then you need to remove the unions bargaining power for this and allow the LAs to pay the NJC rise! Unions should only be there to help workers in troubles at work, they got too big for their boots!
Foodbanks wont be needed if pay rises came at the start of the year and not the end! By delaying it 8 months every year you force the councils to find money they dont have to pay lump sums to staff on top of the rise. Thus causing job losses and MORE people in foodbanks!
Why not just work for nothing
GMB members have voted to accept the pay offer.
Is this a fact as I have heard no updates from GMB?
Yes- the story is here https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/workforce/one-union-accepts-pay-offer-11-07-2024/
It doesn’t matter if they did, it cannot go through without the backing of 2 unions and GMB is the smallest
Unions are weak know don’t no why we are members most of the time.
The apathy, cynicism, victimhood, malaise, internalised viciousness at a supposed unfair world permeating social work laid bare by the simple process of being asked to accept or reject a pay offer. Truly pathetic, truly dispiriting, truly baffling. Wallowing in self induced despair is so infantilising of supposedly resilient and justice conscious adults. And another reason why SWE can treat social workers with disdain without any accountability.
It amazes me how many people there now are working in low paid council jobs, not paying into Unions and shouting about not caring whether they get a wage rise or not. These people obviously have a spouse or partner that is earning big and their own wages are just spends. How sefish that is to the hundreds of thousands working hard trying to feed their families at this time of rising prices.
Please, think of others and understand that Unions are not the enemy they are a collective way of people fighting for fair wages and rights within the work place.
Stop listening to right wing propaganda which will see you paid as little as possible!
In my view, unions aren’t always worth the money we pay them. I spoke with the Unison representative at my school after discovering that the Trust pays different rates for the same job at different schools. He told me that the Trust, as the employer, can set whatever pay rates they choose for similar positions at different schools. I said to him he ස් lked bo11oks, but he stuck to his position. Since his explanation seemed questionable, I contacted the Trust’s HR department. They initially said they would look into the issue, and a week or two later, they informed me that it was an error, and would be corrected, though not immediately but during the next review cycle. I have written responses from them confirming this.
Well said Phil. I wonder how many of these people read the Daily Mail? Do they know their history, that paper were Hitler apologists and supporters in the 1930’s and their politics has remained the same ever since.
If junior doctors can get a decent pay rise, then so can we! Now is the time to fight for what we deserve. We are always second best when it comes to the NHS and local authorities. If labour are the party that they claim to be, then they will give us a decent pay rise, or better still, make our terms and conditions the same as those in the NHS i.e. the same annual leave and access to the same employment benefits.
I do agree that the initial pay offer should be challenged, but I am a bit frustrated with how long it takes every year for all three unions to ballot members and collectively decide whether to challenge / strike or accept.
Union officials have to be seen to earn their salary, that we as members pay. Drags on every year. With the cost of living crisis we need the money in the pay packet now.
What I would like to see published is the expenses being claimed during these pay negotiations and the cost to hold all these ballots that get no wear, and yes I am a member of UNISON
Ask your Chief Executive to publish their expenses before you get all bothered about union negotiators. I used to be a national union officer before I became a social worker and frankly if social workers were not so apathetic and constantly moaning that others aren’t doing enough for them you might get a pay rise you think you deserve at the time that you think you should get it. As it happens Union officials don’t have a secret expenses stash they’ve leeched from your union subs. If they are paid officials you can find out what they earn if you spend a bit of effort. People keeping you from your pay rise or imposing a pay cut on you are your employers. If you think your union is not doing enough for you stand to become a shop steward. Representation belongs to all of us, moaning and bitterness is just self destructive. Employers love employees slagging off unions, it means they can carry on treating you with contempt with your own compliance.
It is the same old story, crap pay rise then wait almost a year to get it. Do people know how hard it is to work in a school ?
New Labour government is a Tory government. If you want a justified pay deal and a 37 hour working week then you have to strike for it. Starmer isn’t going to give to you.
The leader of Unison Christina McAnea wrote to every single Unison member imploring members to vote Labour. Would expect a slight goodwill uplift in the offer
https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2024/05/nec-told-if-you-dont-vote-labour-youre-giving-a-vote-to-the-tories/
One of the biggest issues in Unions is it takes too long to make any decision which renders them ineffective.
The offer was made in mid May 2024. Took 7 weeks to reject it in what is half a decision so far.
These decisions by ballot are split into 2 parts an acceptance ballot and, if rejected, a strike ballot ensues. In all you need near 4 months for that cycle. There are 2-3 months of inactivity during summer, up to September. Add to the fact everybody wants/needs money for Christmas time and not many are in favour of striking from November.
No time to negotiate appropriately with the full force of the employees mass. Actually the reverse, the mass force favours the employers. I believe this is why offers are timed and made as late as possible (May time) and why the cycle repeats year on year with paltry acceptance by December of even March the following year. Its unreasonable..
In my view, should be demanded that an offer by the employers be in place by first week of April each year. Union meetings pre-set during mid April and any ballots to be arranged to start late April. Each ballot cycle should take no longer than 3 weeks in his day an age. Thus shortening the first cycle between April and early June.
I am curious. When is the last time Unison or any union successfully negotiated to have the first pay rise offer increased?
Never. The answer is never
I agree. This is the 3rd year in a row now. What do the Unions hope to achieve by this useless stall tactic. Its inevitable that you will end up accepting the original offer. Just take it and let’s start 2025 negotiations.
You do realise if we keep giving in and concentrating on the next negotiations we will be in the same position every year ? Come on think it through rationally. Where is your fight?
More union members would mean more collective bargaining power. Unions don’t make the rules on how ballots are completed, so are reliant on members responding quickly to reduce the timescale. Understandably people on lower pay and those reliant on benefits want the money as soon as possible. As a workforce we need to be willing to strike, ultimately that is the only power we have.
So looks like it’s another Nov/Dec or even later situation. Unison balloting for strike mandate between 4th sept and 16th oct. So another 6.5 weeks between now and the start of the ballot period 🤦🏻. I assume Unite will be too (although they’ve been extremely quiet this year).
https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2024/07/council-and-school-workers-in-england-wales-and-northern-ireland-asked-to-vote-on-possible-strike-action-says-unison/
Fed up with this crap every year. Single dad with two kids in my care, I need what was offered in my pocket now. The offer will never be substantially increased to make the pain of the delays worthwhile to most.
Ballot papers will now be sent to around 360,000 UNISON members across England and Wales, with Northern Ireland to follow later. The ballot will open on 4 September and close on 16 October.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2024/07/council-and-school-workers-in-england-wales-and-northern-ireland-asked-to-vote-on-possible-strike-action-says-unison/amp/
So nothing until November for the third year in a row 😥
I understand totally that for a lot of people the current offer would be welcomed now but as a Social Worker sitting somewhere in the middle of the pay scale I get a bit sick of hearing that other public sector workers like teachers nurses police officers etc who I work alongside every day are being offered 5% across the board (and rightly so) and yet I’m expected to accept a much lower offer than this each year. I have recently discovered that in real terms I earn only £3000 more now than I did back in 2011 prior to qualifying as a SW. ALL public sector workers need to stop being undervalued.
I don’t see any real benefit from unions other than the bosses getting perks and the Labour Party receiving donations. It’s unfortunate that support workers in schools are misled into paying union dues, thinking the unions are working on their behalf, Unions are a farce.