21.11.17
Pay cap has taken £8.5bn from the public sector this year
Union bosses have warned that a total of £48bn has been taken from public sector pay wage budgets since the government took over in 2010, with £8.5bn this year.
Research by the TUC shows that England’s 50 poorest parliamentary constituencies alone have seen a combined loss in spending power of £3bn since 2010, or £544m this year.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has been consistently pressured to end the seven-year-long 1% cap on pay and, although police and prison officers have seen an end to the policy, many sectors have seen no clear promises.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady commented: “The public sector pay squeeze has driven up in-work poverty. And that means less money spent on high streets and in local businesses.
“The pay cap is a false economy. The chancellor must use the Budget to give all public-sector workers the pay rises they have earned, and end these artificial pay restrictions.”
The cap has previously caused friction between unions and the government in the last 12 months, with Public and Commercial Services (CPS) union balloting earlier this month on strike action if the wage limit continues.
Top image: George Clerk
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