The government has announced pay rises for millions of public sector workers including teachers, nurses, doctors, police officers and members of the armed forces.
In the NHS, some of the lowest earners such as porters and cleaners will get rises of up to 9.3%, while police in England and Wales will get the equivalent of a 5% pay award, or £1,900.
Eligible dentists and doctors will receive a 4.5% pay rise, and junior doctors will get just over 2% this year after agreeing a four-year deal in 2019.
Teachers’ starting salaries will see an 8.9% uplift in September this year to £28,000, while experienced teachers – those who have been in the profession for more than five years – will get a 5% pay increase. Those earlier into their career will see rises of between 5% and 8%, depending on experience.
Police officers in England and Wales will get a £1,900 per year rise, effective from 1 September, equivalent to a 5% pay award. Those on the lowest pay bands will see an increase of up to 8.8%.
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Members of the armed forces will see an increase in base pay of 3.75%, with accommodation charges capped at 1%. Senior members of the military will receive a rise of 3.5%
But the rises have fallen short of demands in many public sector professions, where unions had been pushing for rises more in line with current record levels of inflation – which hit 9.4% in June and is predicted to hit more than 11% later this year.
Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation, said the NHS offer “will still leave hundreds of thousands of key workers facing significant pay cuts in 2022, at the same time as pressures to meet patient backlogs intensify”.
“Despite the fact that it is welcome to see greater pay rises prioritised for those earning less in the NHS, the truth is this package will leave many workers out of pocket with the Bank of England forecasting inflation will rise to 11% by the end of the year,” he said.
“With workplace demands and stresses on healthcare professionals growing, we need to see a renewed focus on developing a workforce strategy that secures decent pay, terms and conditions for all those who work in health and social care.”
The National Education Union said it would ballot teachers over their pay award levels, despite the fact the 5% offer exceeded a previous proposal of 3%. It did not rule out strike action.
“The government has been forced by the NEU members’ campaign on teacher pay to drop its previous proposal of a 3% increase for experienced teachers, but it has not moved far enough,” said Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU.
A 5% increase would still mean yet another huge cut to the real value of teacher pay against inflation. This isn’t a 5% pay rise, it is a nearly 7% pay cut. With RPI inflation at 11.7% according to the latest figures, experienced teachers would see a bigger pay cut than the one inflicted by last year’s pay freeze and even the increase to starting pay is below inflation so is a real-terms pay cut.”
He added that the increase in starting salary would not help teacher recruitment problems: “It gives delayed effect to the government’s 2019 plan to reach a £30,000 starter salary within two years. In that time, however, teachers will have experienced the intense and excessive workload which leads to almost a third quitting within five years of qualifying.”
The National Foundation for Educational Research pointed out that the government had not provided any new funding to cover teacher pay rises. “Underfunded teacher pay rises could have costly impacts, such as staff redundancies and reduced resources for other provision, which will be detrimental to pupils’ learning,” said school workforce lead Jack Worth. “The Department for Education should urgently be working with the Treasury to get additional funding for schools in the Autumn budget.”
‘Kick in the teeth’
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham called the proposed rises “a kick in the teeth”.
“The so-called wage offer amounts to a massive national pay cut. We expected the inevitable betrayal but the scale of it is an affront,” she said.
Laurence Turner, policy officer at the GMB union, said: “An offer below inflation is a cut by another name. Recruitment and retention problems are now severe across the public sector and ministers are failing to invest in the services that the economic recovery needs.”
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said companies needed to show “profit restraint and pay rises that keep up with prices. And the government must play its part with decent pay rises for public servants.”
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“If we do not do more to get pay rising, struggling workers will cut back their spending. Businesses will suffer, and we risk entering a recession,” she added.
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