Local government pay dispute likely to push into 2009

A council representative has quashed trade union hopes of an end to the local government pay dispute this side of Christmas.

Although unions and employers last month agreed an interim 2.45% increase for council staff backdated to April, unions are seeking a further award. The dispute has gone to conciliation service Acas, and the two sides were last week negotiating terms of reference for the arbitration process.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

Trade union Unison said it wanted an agreement to be reached before Christmas. But Jim Savege, who advises the Local Government Employers negotiation board, told Personnel Today: “I’m really pleased we got the pay award before the end of the year, but the arbitration will not be sorted before Christmas.”

He said that if employees were awarded higher wages, councils would struggle to make these payments without cutting jobs. However, unions have said that a pay reward lower than inflation represents a pay cut, and requested a 6% pay rise.