Furious union leaders on Tuesday signaled a wave of strikes in the coming months after the government announced wage increases below inflation for millions of public sector workers.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet on Tuesday approved wage increases covering 2.5 million public sector workers averaging about 5%. Consumer price inflation is reaching a 40-year high of more than 9 percent.
The government, which is under pressure to help people with the rising cost of living crisis, said it had accepted the recommendations of independent wage review bodies covering the public sector.
He said this year’s wage awards were intended to “achieve a careful balance” between recognizing the contribution of public sector workers, fiscal discipline and controlling inflation.
But unions called the awards “unfortunate,” suggesting the government had not gone far enough to prevent its members from consulting on a strike.
British railways are already involved in the biggest strikes of a generation, partly for pay, and BT and Royal Mail workers have voted in favor of industrial action in the face of what they consider inappropriate wage increases.
The government’s salary offer for schools means the salaries of experienced teachers will increase by 5 per cent next school year.
Kevin Courtney, joint secretary general of the National Education Union, said teachers would not stand “another huge cut” in the real value of their salary during the inflation spiral.
“Given this poor salary proposal, we will try to consult our partners in the autumn,” he added. “This will be the biggest vote of teachers of a generation.”
In the NHS, the government said there would be a fixed increase of £ 1,400 for nurses, paramedics, midwives and hospital carriers, equivalent to 4% on average. There would be an average increase of 4.5% for doctors and dentists, and a 3.5% increase for NHS senior executives.
Christina McAnea, general secretary of the Unison union, said the government had made a “big mistake” with a wage deal for NHS workers that “fails on all fronts”.
He added: “The fed-up staff could now decide to take matters into their own hands. If there is to be a dispute in the NHS, ministers will have no one to blame more than themselves.”
Sharon Graham, secretary general of Unite, said the government had given a “toothpick” to public sector workers and that “the so-called wage supply is tantamount to a massive national wage cut”.
Pat Cullen, secretary general of the Royal College of Nursing, said the deal was a “serious mistake” that would leave nurses in the profession, adding that union members would vote and say what they want to do next.
The government has offered Armed Forces personnel a 3.75% salary increase.
Police officers will have a salary increase of £ 1,900, which will mean an average of 5%.
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Flat offers for some public sector workers mean that many lower paid workers are assured of a higher wage increase in percentage terms. For example, hospital gatekeepers will receive 9 percent.
There are also higher increases for some new hires, such as beginning teachers, whose salary will increase by 8.9 percent.
Official data released on Tuesday showed that the UK private sector wage grew almost five times faster than the public equivalent.