02.10.14
Unions meeting LGA to discuss pay offer
Local government unions are meeting today with employers and the Local Government Association (LGA) to discuss the latest pay proposals.
Last week the LGA put forward a ‘long-term’ proposal to increase council worker pay by 2.2%, providing the unions called off the strike action set for Tuesday, 14 October.
Ahead of today’s meeting, Unison called on local government employers to “reconsider” their current pay proposals and come forward with “improved ones which begin to tackle the hardship facing all of its members”.
The trade union added that the LGA’s proposal was not a “formal offer” and had not been signed off by councils.
Unison’s NJC committee, which represents the affected workers, looked at the LGA’s proposal, but noted that there were “difficult issues facing Unison's members and leadership in considering proposals which appear to be aimed at dividing the workforce”.
Ahead of the meetings, Heather Wakefield, head of local government at Unison, said: “A key element of concern was that the majority of Unison members would get less than a 1% pay rise this year.
“I would very sincerely urge you [LGA] to reconsider the current proposals and come forward with improved ones which begin to tackle the hardship facing all of our members.”
Unison, GMB and Unite are all to be involved with the LGA talks today.
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