You have more responsibility and stress than ever before, but your pay continues to stagnate. Given the experience of the past twenty-one months, all councils should already have flexible working policies that set out protocols for employees whose roles readily lend themselves to working at home and we expect those arrangements to now be kicking in again. A commitment to ensure adult social care workers receive at least the Real Living Wage of 9.50 an hour has been agreed with COSLA. GMB is now asking you to vote to accept or reject the pay offer at 1.75% (please note pay point 1 will be increased by 2.75%), What happens next is up to you. 22 Stephenson Way London 2 Marsham Street 76% of members balloted in consultation over the local government employers' pay offer voted to accept it. Full details of the offer can be found here. School staff, refuse collectors and council workers have kept our country moving through the coronavirus crisis, often putting themselves in harm's way. Employers have been encouraged to pay this award to employees as soon as possible. THANKYOU FOR VOTING. We are urging GMB members to VOTE YES in this indicative ballot for strike action/action short of strike and return the ballot paper by 12 noon on Monday 13th December 2021. It agrees an annual uplift to the national pay spine, on which each individual council decides where to place its employees. Message a friend on Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp, 2. We put all Local Government, Councils, Schools and Academies Pay updates covered by the NJC on the GMB website, so please visit www.gmb.org.uk to find out the latest. Hundreds of occupations are covered by this pay offer. This represents an increase of over 1,600 to the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the NLW and is expected to benefit over 2 million low paid workers. The rate peg is the maximum percentage amount by which a council may increase its general income for the year. Date: 15/07/2021 67% of GMB members voted in favour of the employers pay offer. 1. Since then, we have received news that of the other unions, Unisons members in England and Wales also rejected the offer but as their ballot turnout was a low turnout, they also have no ability to progress the issue via any form of industrial action. Exclusive: Strike action 'doubtful' as union's ballot results come in National Secretary, You are true Covid heroes, keeping the nations essential public services going during the toughest of times, often putting your own health and safety at risk. 2022/23 Local Government & Schools Pay offer is for one year and it is as follows: With effect from 1 April 2022, an increase of 1,925 on all NJC pay points 1 and above. Unions call for a 'substantial' pay rise for council and school workers Tuesday 16 February 2021 Three local government unions have submitted a pay claim for 2021/22, which they say begin s to redress a decade of cuts and recognise s the key role played in the pandemic by school and council staff. A pay cut in real terms. This means all members will now get a vote to decide on whether to take strike action to stop these pay cuts. The National Employers have today made the following one-year offer to the unions representing the main local government NJC workforce: With effect from 1 April 2021, an increase of 1.50. Meanwhile, some councils in London and the East of England are bracing themselves for strike action for a week this month by workers represented by Unite, which told LGC the names of the places where strikes would take place had not yet been finalised. for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities On Mileage Allowances, the LGA has agreed to make representation to the HMRC. UNISON is calling on its members to vote for strike action, arguing the 1.75% offer by local government employers is below-inflation.. UNISON, GMB and Unite have called for a 10% pay rise for council staff to ensure the lowest paid employees earned just above the new real . GMBs National Committees agreed that our claim should include: an increase of no lessthanRPI; a Covid recognition payment, review of term time only contracts and consideration of retainers; a reduction in the working week (without loss of pay) to 35 hours (34 hours in London); a review of mileage rates. At this meeting a timetable will be agreed for a pay ballot. Local councils play an essential role in the fabric of our country - providing services which we all rely on and supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. We asked all members - working in town halls, schools, academies and across local government - who would be affected by the offer, what you thought. GMB and the other trade unions with members affected will be meeting once all ballots close and discuss next steps. Local government services pay agreement 2021-2022 Separate guidance applies to councils in Wales and Northern Ireland. Not got a GMB Workplace Organiser yet? GMB will meet with sister unions tomorrow and have arranged a GMB senior reps of the GMB Local Government and Schools Committees to discuss the final pay offer on Tuesday 10th August 2021. GMB Members have voted to reject the 1.75% pay offer set out by the NJC employers. 2021 Government, Councils & Schools Pay offer is as follows: The employers have also agreed to joint discussions on the following: GMB expressed dismay at the opening offer of 1.5% tabled by your employers earlier this year. Unions previously said the negotiations had reached a deadlock after the government initially offered no increase.. It is applicable to rates of pay from 1 April 2021 onwards and the LGA has encouraged employers "to implement this pay award as swiftly as possible." Unison's head of local government Mike Short said the focus would now be on achieving a more substantial pay rise for 2022-23. The headline results are as follows: 45% of respondents would be willing to accept a 10% pay increase to at least maintain standard of living, with the mean settlement across all responses being 7.4% Now they are being told by Local Government employers all they deserve is a pay cut. Public sector pay - House of Commons Library Please stand with our members. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, local government and council workers have kept the country going, working above and beyond the call of duty, putting themselves and their families at risk to support the effort against Covid-19. Now rising prices have left council and school staff wages well and truly behind. Unions dismayed by delays on pay rise decision for council and school For every four GMB members who voted, three rejected the employers 1.75% pay offer for 2021/22. GMB members throughout councils and schools want to deliver for the public they serve, but just dont have the resources or numbers of staff to do it. Victorian politicians win 2.5% pay rise, union says increase should Despite this, we are continuing to push for the agreement from the other unions in the hope that we can still get this paid and March and will update you very shortly with an update. Its important to stress the LGA Executive Advisory Board - which is made up of elected councillors have decided to override the view of the National Employers hence why it will be really helpful if you could write to your councillor asking why this is the case. FAO: England, Wales, & Northern Ireland. An agreement on a best practice national programme of mental health support for all local authorities and school staff. . Recruit a member - Strength in numbers! This includes 1 billion of new grant funding in 2023-24 and 1.7 billion in 2024-25, further flexibility on council tax, and savings from delaying the rollout of adult social care charging reforms. Are you the sort of person who cant sit and do nothing when you can see injustice or something wrong? Jon Richards, Rehana Azam, Jim Kennedy By Jim Dunton. GMB Union is calling on you to urgently address this pressing matter and offer financial support to protect jobs and services. The total public sector pay bill was around 235 billion in the 2021/22 financial year - with central government pay (which includes UK government departments, parliament, most public bodies and the devolved administrations) costing about 165 billion and local government about 70 billion. I am writing on behalf of the Employers Side of the NJC to respond formally to the Trade Union Sides pay claim. Rehana Azam Visit our, Council employees set to lose part of pay rise. Housing & Communities Furthermore, the 1.75% increase offered to youth and community workers covering the period from September 2021 to August 2022 has not yet been accepted by Jim Kennedy, national officer for the local authorities sector at Unite, on behalf of youth and community workers. GMB will ask all members in scope of NJC pay to make sure they have their say on pay. You are right that local government staff are a vital part of our national infrastructure providing services that everyone relies on and protecting some of the most vulnerable in our society. The Consumer Prices Index rate of inflation is currently 3.2%. The letter from Cllr Sian Golding was seeking an urgent commitment from the government that the cost to local government employers of central governments policy on the National Living Wage (NLW) will be met for this year, 2022-3 and in future local government settlements. The letter also stated that without the estimated 800m cost of workable NLW compliance being met by central government some councils and other employers will have significant difficulty in affording the pay award which would result in jobs and services being put at risk. But, for so many workers in the public sector, every day is a real struggle, and its getting worse. The public sector pay review covers roughly 2.5mn people, some 45 per cent of public sector workers with total pay costing taxpayers 220bn in 2021-21. In GMB only members have their say on pay and we now need you to take part in this important ballot and let us know if you are prepared to accept or reject the pay offer. GMB Mary Turner House The 2023-24 rate peg also includes an adjustment for the change in the superannuation guarantee in 2021-22. . They have made calls for more funding for local government and for a more stable long-term financial settlement. Rt Hon Simon Clarke MP SLCC | 2021-22 National Salary Award The real problem is the impact of the rise in the long term. Government and your employers need to understand that you simply cant be expected to accept further below inflation pay awards and we will need to send a message that unless they table a decent rise, our members will not accept it. GMBwill meet with the other recognised unions (Unison & Unite) on Tuesday 1st November 2022 and notify them and the employers of our result. Thank you to all GMB members for taking the time to vote in the recent Indicative Industrial Action Ballot. At the time of writing, we have yet to get agreement for this to happen and the current delays make this less likely due to the time needed to process the payments. At the Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022, the Chancellor announced an historic increase in funding for social care, making available an additional 2.8 billion in 2023-24 and 4.7 billion in 2024-25. The Joint National Secretaries for GMB, Unison, and Unite, have written to the NJC Employer Side expressing dissapointment and reiterate requests for urgent further negotiation and talks on the issue of Local Government Pay. 2022 National Pay Negotiations | Local Government Association The success of busting the pay freeze was down to members coming together to campaign for pay justice - we need you to do this again. Employment Cost Index Summary - 2022 Q04 Results - Bureau of Labor GMB Union negotiates pay for hundreds of thousands of workers in local government and schools. The NJC payscales, which are local government payscales resulting from negotiations between the employer and trade union sides of the National Joint Council, have been agreed for the 2021/22 year. A trade union has started balloting 370,000 council and school staff for strike action over the 'inadequate' pay offer. Public sector pay rise pledge expected to 'set tone' of future pay GMB joint Local Government and Schools Committee representatives have discussed the pay offer and are recommending you vote to REJECT the offer. The National Employers is advising councils very strongly against implementing the pay offer before the collective bargaining process has concluded, as it leaves councils vulnerable to questions being asked by auditors as to why expenditure has been unnecessarily incurred in the absence of a national collective agreement. The pay negotiations will also be influenced by shifting government policy. Public Sector Pay Policy For 2022-23 Background The 2022-23 Public Sector Pay Policy sets out the parameters for pay increases for staff pay remits and senior appointments and applies to public bodies with settlement dates in the year between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 (inclusive). VIDEO: Latest information on the pay offer and GMB campaign. The National Employers share councils frustration that the unions actions mean that, six months after the full and final offer was made, employees are unlikely to receive the monies due to them before the increase to national insurance contributions comes into effect in April, she said. 350,000 Government employees are set to receive general pay increases of 2% over the lifetime of the new two-year public service agreement, with the potential of a further 1% under new sectoral . All results are being analysed by regional teams toidentifypotential local campaigning targets outside of this national pay claim. Part-time staff to be given a choice of a pro rata reduction, or retaining the same hours and being paid a higher percentage of FTE, A minimum of 25 days annual leave, plus public holidays and statutory days, for all starting employees, plus an extra day holiday on all other holiday rates that depend on service, An agreement on a best practice national programme of mental health support for all local authorities and school staff, A joint review of job descriptions, routes for career developments and pay banding for school support staff, and completion of the outstanding work of the joint term-time only review group. State employees to see 8.7% pay raise | Government | newspressnow.com The three trade unions in their response rejecting the pay offer of 1.75% from 1 April 2021, asked the National Employers to consider re-opening the negotiations to seek an improvement. Ms Cooke explained that current government pay policy has less clarity than previously, with remits for pay review bodies making reference to affordability and consistency with private sector pay increases'. Long Term Financial Plans to refer to the Office of Local Government's Integrated Planning and Reporting Manual for . I am writing to update you on the work we have been doing on your behalf on the local government national pay negotiations for 2021. Scottish authorities are to receive an extra 100m funding in a last-minute addition to Holyrood's Budget. The employers rejected the following elements of the pay claim: Our demand in the pay claim was fair: we wanted a pay award that keeps pace with inflation; a Covid recognition payment, a review of term time only contracts and consideration of retainers; a reduction in the working week (without loss of pay) to 35 hours (34 hours in London); a review of mileage rates. Some Democrats and federal employee unions have urged lawmakers to adopt a more generous . Pay is ultimately a decision for local councils. Although the sums involved in this are largely negligible (for example an employee on 20k per year would lose only 4.38 of the back pay), we strongly believe that you have waited long enough and should get every penny owed. The final pay claim, as agreed by all three unions, and which has now been submitted is: A headlineclaimof an increase of 2,000 on each pay point, or of the current RPI rate, whichever is the greater, Review of term time only contracts and consideration of retainers, Reduction in the working week (without loss of pay) to 35 hours (34 in London), One additional day of annual leave across the board, Introduction of a home working allowance for all staff who are working from home, A national minimum agreement on homeworking policies for all councils, A separate urgent review of all mileage rates currently applying. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU VOTE GMB IS CAMPAIGNING FOR A HUGE TURNOUT TO DEMONSTRATE TO YOUR EMPLOYERS WE WONT ACCEPT FURTHER PAY CUTS. A substantial pay increase with a minimum of 10% for all workers in local government and schools! Three local government unions have today (Monday) submitted a pay claim for 2021/22, which they say begin s to redress a decade of cuts and recognise s the key role played in the pandemic by school and council staff. Keeping you up to date and in touch on GMB issues that matter to you. GMB reps and officers are now pushing for Councils to make the payment in March to ensure that you get your back pay as soon as possible. This bulletin is available as a flyer to post in your workplace: You can download all the Pay Justice Now campaign materials you need at the Pay Justice Campaign Hub! GMB continues to press the Local Government employers to get back round the table and improve the pay offer. Its not just GMB that is shouting about this. 2021 General Schedule (GS) Locality Pay Tables. Council employees have been offered what the Local Government Association describes as a 'full and final' pay increase of at least 1,925 from 1 April 2023. There is strength in numbers, employers can ignore one voice but when we all speak together they have to take notice. For too long the people who are at the heart of our communities have been failed by their employers. The detail in the unions' claim cites an RPI figure of 10.7 per cent, which is the current annual forecast for RPI in 2023, published in November 2022 by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Over the last year GMB members working in councils, local authorities and local government have shown how indispensable you are. We would like to thank all members who took the time to vote and for the hard work of all the reps and branches in keeping members informed and working so hard to get the ballot out. 5. The NJC pay survey closed in November 2020. Govt employees to receive 2% pay increases in new deal - RTE.ie At the Autumn Statement, the Government announced that approximately 6.5 billion will be made available for councils to deliver services in 2023/24 and 2024/25, in addition to what was agreed at Spending Review 2021. I shall continue to keep you informed of developments.