Local authority workers strike over pay
Workers in the UK public sector at local government level staged a two-day strike in England, Wales and Northern Ireland during July 2008, having rejected a 2.45% pay increase. Elsewhere in the public sector, trade union reaction to the government’s policy of pay restraint has varied, with deals in the healthcare sector but threats of further industrial action in the civil service and in schools.
On 16 and 17 July 2008, workers in the public sector at local government level held a two-day strike in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the local government employers’ offer of a 2.45% pay rise. The proposed pay increase was in line with the government’s target for below-inflation public sector wage increases, and the strike is widely seen as representing a major test for the government’s policy of public sector pay restraint.
The industrial action was organised by the UK’s two largest trade unions, Unison and Unite, in pursuit of a pay rise of 6% or GBP 0.50 (€0.65 as at 1 August 2008) an hour, whichever is higher.
Impact of the strike disputed
According to Unison, about 500,000 workers participated in the strike on each of the two days. The trade union claimed that some 11,000 schools were closed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland due to the strike, in addition to airports, libraries and refuse collections being affected by the strike action. However, figures released by the UK Local Government Association (LGA) suggested that only 100,000 workers had participated in the strike on the first day and 84,000 on the second. An LGA survey indicated that only 611 schools were affected by the action on the first day.
Positions of parties involved
Officials at Unison and Unite argue that the 2.45% pay offer implies a pay cut, given current high levels of inflation in the UK: ‘With inflation rising rapidly, our members – many of them low-paid women with families to support – simply can’t make ends meet.’ Based on the retail price index (RPI), the country’s inflation rate currently amounts to 4.1%. The government, however, prefers to use the consumer price index (CPI) to measure inflation, which is 2.1%.
Unison’s General Secretary, Dave Prentis, stated that: ‘Local government workers have shown their anger and resentment towards this pay offer. The employers must heed the voice of their own workforce and get back round the negotiating table to settle this dispute.’ He added: ‘These members have not taken this action lightly […] but for the fourth year running, they are offered a take it or leave it pay cut. They are saying “enough is enough”.’
According to Unison, the local government employers ‘are sitting on £11 billion [about €14 billion] in bank accounts, £3 billion [about €3.8 billion] of which is unallocated. That means they could afford to pay a decent increase without going to the government with a begging bowl, without putting up council tax and without affecting jobs and services.’
For their part, the local government employers argue that higher pay rates would potentially lead to cuts to frontline services in local authorities. They have also criticised the representativeness of Unison’s strike ballot, in which 55% of members voted for industrial action on a 27% turnout.
The Managing Director of the Local Government Employers organisation (LGE), Jan Parkinson, highlighted: ‘The only thing the unions have achieved through striking is to lose their members two days’ pay. Our last offer, which is affordable to the tax payer and fair to staff, is our final offer.’
Broader public sector context
The picture elsewhere in the public sector is mixed. A range of public sector groups have agreed pay settlements which are broadly in line with the government targets. According to the pay research organisation Income Data Services (IDS), the median public sector pay deal provides for a 2.7% pay increase overall; in other words, some areas may receive more than this, while others may be offered less. In the healthcare sector, members of Unison, which is the largest healthcare sector trade union, recently voted to accept a three-year pay rise of 8%, as did members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the Society of Radiographers (SoR). However, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the healthcare section of Unite rejected the offer, arguing that it entails a pay cut given the increase in inflation.
Further industrial action over pay is expected in the public sector. For example, strikes are planned in the near future by a range of workers in the civil service, including coastguards and immigration and passport officials. In the education sector, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) is consulting members on further industrial action over pay, following a strike in April 2008 (UK0804029I).
Commentary
The two-day local government workers’ strike arguably represents the biggest challenge yet to the government’s attempts to limit public sector pay increases. Fuelled by rising price inflation, the prospect of similar strikes in other areas of the public sector could put the government’s policy of pay restraint under serious strain.
Thomas Prosser, IRRU, University of Warwick