What do you think of this year's 3.2% pay rise offer for council staff in England and Wales?
- It's not ideal, but we should accept it as there's unlikely to be a better offer. (46%, 1,131 Votes)
- It's inadequate, I would support strike action for better pay. (42%, 1,045 Votes)
- It's adequate as it's above the current rate of inflation. (12%, 301 Votes)
Total Voters: 2,477
Loading ...A union has recommended that members reject employers’ pay offer to council staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Unite – one of three unions that negotiate pay on behalf of local authority workers – said it would hold consultative votes on the proposed 3.2% pay rise and were urging members to reject the offer.
It warned that industrial action could follow this summer, should members follow its advice, though any walkouts would have to be ratified through formal strike ballots.
The national employers for local government services tabled the offer earlier this month, describing it as their “full and final” proposal for pay for the 2025-26 financial year and saying it would add pressure to already stretched council budgets.
The proposal is above the rate of inflation in the 12 months to March 2025 – 2.6% – according to the government’s preferred consumer prices index (CPI) measure.
However, not only is fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility projecting that CPI will rise to 3.2% later this year, but the proposed pay rise is below the broader CPIH measure of inflation, which also includes owner occupiers’ housing costs. This was 3.4% in the 12 months to March 2025.
Criticism of offer and lack of negotiation
In response to the proposal, Unite criticised both its level and a lack of negotiation with unions on the part of employers before tabling it.
“This is a very disappointing pay offer for our members, which is why our local government representatives have rightfully and unanimously recommended rejection,” said national officer for local authorities Clare Keough.
“For the fourth year in a row, the national employers have also disgracefully failed to negotiate with Unite, attempting to force through these pitiful pay rises. Any industrial action will be of their own making. We are calling on council leaders to come to the negotiating table and offer fair pay.”
Fellow union the GMB has said it is meeting with members to discuss next steps, while the largest union, UNISON, is due to discuss its response next week.
UNISON head of local government Mike Short said: “With household bills still rising, council and school staff need a decent pay award after years of below-inflation deals and deep cuts to local government services.
“It’s vital central government also plays its part through sustained investment in local authorities. UNISON will meet to discuss the offer next week before deciding next steps.”
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GMB and unison dragging it out as usual 2 weeks after the offer was made, absolute disgrace this lot. Every year it’s the same rubbish being spewed out. There all in the pockets of each other an absolute shambles as usual.
Actually the last couple of years, it was primarily unite’s balloting and strike mandates on small individual employer basis that delayed the process.
They’re quick at the accept or not initial ballot with recommendations. But the follow up work and applying logic to the results was really poor, slow and ineffective.
Unison to a degree. Last year had dropped a clanger by ignoring how many nil replies they got on the initial pay ballot, and skewed the rhetoric about how many people wanted to reject (but those that don’t vote are effectively not supporting active action). When you upscale the responses vs vote vs total members. They were always well below the required turnout thresholds but ignored it.
The pay ballot should be asking if they’re accept or not, if not that this is effectively supporting moving to industrial action ballot. But please please please, stop dragging things out when ‘80% want to strike’, but it’s based on like only 20-30% of eligible members bothering to return their vote on pay in the first place.
Nil response is as good as saying I’m not willing to be active in action. Otherwise surely you would take the effort and actively respond!
Unison last year saw this and still decided to then ballot for a strike mandates “ The consultation result was that 80.77% of members voted to reject vote on a 29.09% turnout” (taken from https://unisonwestsussex.org.uk/news/njc-pay-industrial-action-ballot/ )
For some additional mathematical context… this meant only 23.49% of eligible members voted to reject the pay offer last year. Everyone else (76.51%) either voted to accept, or didn’t feel strongly enough to return a vote either way. i.e 76.51% DID NOT REJECT THE PAY OFFER.
But the whole process still got drawn out with more ballots through to end Oct / Nov.
To think they’d then get a ballot over the required thresholds with these initial figures was ridiculous when you would need 50.1% of members to vote, and then 50.1% of those to vote for strike action.
Unite and GMB seem to have a more cohesive member base, but unfortunately the smaller over all representation needs to be considered, no point have standalone strikes again (like Wrexham etc) that held up national pay agreements for everyone.
The 3 unions need to somehow coordinate to effectively a one ballot, one mandate collective approach.
We are the ones working for our councils and we are the ones keeping them afloat. I do believe it gets drawn out ever year so the interest accumulated pays the payrise and more and I believe we are exploited in this way, people have lost faith in unions because we get nowhere, most people I work with aren’t in the union because they have lost faith and I’m beginning to agree, we should get the interest on drawn out payrises because it’s our money, not the councils. There’s no fight left in people, minimum wage is catching up to skilled workers so the sensible thing to do is leave the council which is what’s happening and who can blame them, it makes sense, I’m considering leaving the union and leaving council employment full stop, tired of the lack of value shown to the skilled people we all are
I dont understand why gmb and unison our now saying they are considering the offer from the government and my union unite are saying we should ballot for a reject of the offer but sorry gmb and unison let us down last year and the year before that not getting the votes it’s seeming the same story every year all about back pay in December.
Yes. Well 3.2% backdated up to Dec isn’t a bad Christmas package. It’s ridiculous we have to tell ourselves this every year. The system is broken.
For people who claim universal credit, this ‘bonus’ is completely wiped out because it bumps up that one month’s pay, so they lose iut the following month. The unions are aware that those on the lowest pay are adversely affected by these delays.
It’s not a bad result for the councils banking 3.5 million a month on interest on the 793 million they will pay out. That’s the real reason it’s dragged out every year, it’s deliberate and just wrong.
Most councils can’t afford 2% pay rises, let alone 3.2%. Bigger increases will only mean higher council tax or another tax – big pay offers just mean higher taxes, we need to be real about how the economy works.
What’s the problem with that? If the price of goods goes up every April to provide you with the goods in the first place then why can’t council tax go up to carry on providing the same services you already get? Considering most of the council Tax goes to adult care for when people get old and sick why is cost increases unacceptable in a financial system that is completely built around inflation!
If inflation fails and stalls then we have a lot more to worry about with our global economics! The whole lending system works and validates itself with the fact that inflation creates the security. Yes everyone moans about it but it offers us a lot of protections and always balances it self out as people are no worse now or better off than many decades ago!
I would be happy with 3.2%, however, they have scrapped scale 1 now they want to scrap scale 2, they are only doing this to stop them having to pay a higher % to all to keep band 2 above minimum wage. Jobs were graded a pay was awarded according, now you will have people who’s jobs were a grade 1 getting paid a grade 3! How is this fair! I am a scale 7 why can’t I get paid a 10 for doing the same job. The whole pay system was based of job evaluation that has now been scrapped, which makes the whole this meaningless
It is getting silly with the system! Starts off good but as you go up the grading it goes all over the place and doesn’t make sense now and also puts down all the mid level jobs which in term drops morale and productivity for all those that work hard in their jobs! Progression is key but all messing around with grading makes things pointless. Need to have a fair system that reflects values of employees!
Feels like the political system now where the low paid are looked after the the high level management are looks after while the main workers are just ignored and have now value!
I remember after the crash and pay freezes this kept happening across the public sector. A friend of mine in another public sector profession qualified but every year thereafter for some time his pay was frozen. But each year they removed the lowest point out of ‘fairness ‘ to lower paid colleagues. this meant every year the cohorts that qualified behind him and therefore had one year less of continuous service all ended up on the same pay as him. So when the pay unfroze , he and 3 years worth of ppl got paid the same. Needless to say he did not feel that was fair !
I agree. What’s the point in progressing your career and taking on extra responsibility if then your pay is degraded. This is what the flat rate increases did where everyone gets the same amount. Percentage increases are therefore ‘fairer’.
It’s disappointing how resigned union members seem to be about the fact that council workers’ pay has declined in real terms over the past 15 years.
Not even bothering to vote is such an abdication. At least submit a “No” to action if that’s how you feel!
I’ll be voting for to reject the NJC offer and voting for action to back it up, as I have done for the last several years of being a member.
So my councils having a forced financial review of its services with many services being cut or reduced so how are they going to afford any increase on the offer when there’s nothing In The budget left without cutting more services and laying off more staff. I think we are reaching a crucial point with councils. Think we need to be realistic our councils are in dire straights and without a central government bail out or review of the councils where’s the extra money coming from ? I completely understand the feeling of being undervalued on the pay front.
At the moment I’m paying a mortgage id rather keep my job and flexi and pension so I can keep going till retirement.
If we did strike it would indeed send a message that employees weren’t happy but my bosses already know that they aren’t oblivious.I’d rather see my colleagues keep their jobs and hope that things improve in the future – we are already being asked to do more with less each year and councils are at breaking point.
Just my five cents on this – there’s too much apathy, older staff want their pension, flexibility and younger staff don’t see the unions value and follow the lead of older staff members , there’s too much poor financial management in the system to support a major pay increase and I agree we have and are under paid, under valued, under supported and in the main we don’t get thanked for the jobs we do, for those who aren’t ingrained the best option is to leave and seek the better pay that’s needed. My council struggle to recruit, it’s getting harder and harder – our work is specialist work and when this current tranche of staff retire councils will realise what they have left and it’s going to be its own eye opener and this will lead to bigger problems.
The response to this is that we need to strike to send that message home but believe me bosses know this they don’t want to add to the many other councils falling into bankruptcy so it’s catch 22 we need and deserve more but where does it come from?
Increase pay – where’s the money coming from ? Staff cuts / service cuts leading to increased pressure on services either way no one is winning. I love working in the public sector I have done for 30 years I think there’s bigger problems than the pay increase and given I have to find 20 more years of work I’d rather have some job security.
I respect the value of democratic vote and this process so will vote how I see fit and will adhere to the decisions of our unions but for the love of god speed this process up will you
People need and deserve the money now or deserve to be given the respectful consideration that a strike should be organised quickly. Either way there is no excuse for heel dragging this is third year we have been in this position so it isn’t new to our unions after all this is another expense people will need to consider if they can live with or without it.
Sorry just my thoughts on this and happy to cop any criticism after all we are in this together
If we don’t fight we play into the Governments hands. We keep giving in so we are an east target for them to say here you go take it or leave it because you are not striking, you never do. At what point do we actually show some back bone?
Labour have rightly been obliterated in the local elections. It is prime time to stand up and fight them. Unions are a waste of time. Ive left Unison because most of their members don’t have any fight in them and i am paying money for people just to give in every year
How ironic, working for LA, making cuts in team so staff on the shop floor carrying heave case loads and over working. Yet in the same breath employing more managment for what. Require more staff on front line.
Certainly need an increase in pay, wondering what I am paying fees to BASW and SWEngland.
The National Minimum wage (21 and over) has had an increase of 6.7%, yet we are offered 3.2% and expected to be happy with it and continue to work hard in a difficult sector. Year on year we have lost out on pay in real terms and now this. It is offensive that the government expects the high level of service and work from council workers, but refuses to pay staff what they are worth.