Public Sector Pay Increases

N

Nano

Well-known member
Not seen any conversation about this yet. As expected massively below inflation pay rises given out. Pay cuts for all, significant pay cuts for many.

Works out as just over 2% for me. Won't even cover 1/4 of my energy bill increase never mind all of the other costs. Another kick in the balls after a decade of below inflation rises.

Can imagine there will be widespread dissent and quite possibly industrial action.

Also expected that the pay rises will be funded out of existing budgets which is another cut to NHS and other public sector services. NHS have only had budgets inflated this year by 2.7% which is nowhere near enough to cover inflation even without pay increases.
 
More widespread strike action incoming. Pretty much nailed on.

A lot of it is the legacy of Osbourne and Cameron. They could have afforded quite easily to pay the public sector fairly but enforced an ideological pay freeze on it. Promising it would be "temporary". Many in the public sector would probably have accepted a degree of pay restraint in the current climate if they hadn't had to face it for the last 10 years.

On top of that there's been a gradual eroding of non pay terms and conditions, culture wars against the public sector, arbitrary cuts to jobs being implemented, pensions being watered down, attempts to reduce redundancy terms.....

You can only push people so far. You can probably push public sector workers more than most but there's always a limit.

Only a complete idiot would think you could keep hammering away at people without any reaction. But then you look at who's been running the country ...
 
northernrower said:
Out of interest, how do you expect the pay increases to be funded if they're not raised from cutting existing budgets?
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Increase taxation for those taking most out of society, that's the fairest way.

Corporations are making profits because their workforce can commit themselves to their employer knowing that the public sector are looking after what's going on in the background.

It's time a rebalance was made and that those fleecing society paid back in kind.

What do you think should be done?
 
The current government didn't seem too concerned when they were throwing huge sums of cash away during covid.

But I guess giving some long overdue money to stagnated public sector workers isnt as agreeable as throwing great wads of cash at giant multinational corporations. After all, we must do everything we can to protect the free market, even if it means mass unemployment and growing poverty.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Increase taxation for those taking most out of society, that's the fairest way.

Corporations are making profits because their workforce can commit themselves to their employer knowing that the public sector are looking after what's going on in the background.

It's time a rebalance was made and that those fleecing society paid back in kind.

What do you think should be done?
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I'd say I agree with this 👍
 
Nano said:
Not seen any conversation about this yet. As expected massively below inflation pay rises given out. Pay cuts for all, significant pay cuts for many.

Works out as just over 2% for me. Won't even cover 1/4 of my energy bill increase never mind all of the other costs. Another kick in the balls after a decade of below inflation rises.

Can imagine there will be widespread dissent and quite possibly industrial action.

Also expected that the pay rises will be funded out of existing budgets which is another cut to NHS and other public sector services. NHS have only had budgets inflated this year by 2.7% which is nowhere near enough to cover inflation even without pay increases.
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Hi Nano, out of interst what sector do you work in as on reading such things in the news, it seems like its a min of 4-5% across most of the sectors....?
 
festa5 said:
A lot of it is the legacy of Osbourne and Cameron. They could have afforded quite easily to pay the public sector fairly but enforced an ideological pay freeze on it. Promising it would be "temporary". Many in the public sector would probably have accepted a degree of pay restraint in the current climate if they hadn't had to face it for the last 10 years.
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That is the absolute crux of the issue. Public Sector workers were hammered by Osborne and Cameron. People have in real terms had pay cuts since 2010. It was accepted as inflation hardly mattered much. Now it's sky rocketing to 11% those same people have realistically had a 20% pay cut since 2010.
 
northernrower said:
Out of interest, how do you expect the pay increases to be funded if they're not raised from cutting existing budgets?
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They don't even need to increase taxation levels to increase budgets at inflation level. With costs rising across the economy then everyone will be paying more tax anyway. Every year they fund the NHS below inflation the Treasury are retaining more money that should be going to the NHS.

Johnnyweetabix said:
Hi Nano, out of interst what sector do you work in as on reading such things in the news, it seems like its a min of 4-5% across most of the sectors....?
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NHS. The news are reporting the average but they don't understand the details. NHS Agenda for Change staff are getting a fixed £1,400 increase. If £1,400 is less than 4% for Band 7 and below then they are topping that up to 4%. I'm above a band 7 so I don't get any top-up. Even so, 4% is still nowhere near the 9-11% inflation we are seeing this year. I'm not against fixed increases either or raising the salaries of the lower paid but everyone should be getting inflation as a minimum, the lower paid should be significantly above inflation. I worked out that in the last 10 years the salary for my role has increased by 17%. Inflation has been 37% so my job pays significantly less than it did in 2012.

I get paid pretty well working in the NHS so I'm not here to complain about my salary. It is my choice to work in the NHS. I could easily go and work in the private sector but I like the idea, maybe naively, that I am helping people in some way instead of just trying to fill someone else's pockets . Doesn't mean I should be getting a significant paycut though.
 
If this lot of Tory Libertarians win the next election just wait until they introduce Charter Cities on mass. This lot are aiming for the end of the Welfare State and the time of the "Sovereign Individual". They want Britain to return to feudal times.

We'll all be lucky for a pay-rise again.
 
Nano said:
Also expected that the pay rises will be funded out of existing budgets which is another cut to NHS and other public sector services. NHS have only had budgets inflated this year by 2.7% which is nowhere near enough to cover inflation even without pay increases.
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This stems from the fact that they have delayed announcing this until now. This review should be done before he financial year begins. They have it backwards, deliberately, so they can pull this kind of ****. If they had announced these increases in March as they used to do then they would have had to fund them fully.
 
I honestly wonder what the future holds for working class people in this country.

Like many on this forum I'm probably a bit more left in my views than right but I'm also not a communist either. However when you see the rich get richer, more billionaires than ever and those in bed with the Tories profiting from covid you wonder how much longer people will take it.

Working people are worse off every year now, we're expected to work full time and then visit food banks just to feed our families.

Further down the line we are going to see the affects of climate change pushing up food prices and the rich will get richer at our expense.

I'm not someone who wants to live in a post-war communist Russia and I've never wanted a revolution because I've always felt our generation have probably had it better than most. But, I don't know how long people will accept the continuing decline of wealth and living standards in this country before we have civil unrest.

When we have billionaires with money stashed away in off-shore banks while some of us are struggling to put food on the table despite working there's something wrong.

I fear for what sort of world my children are going to grow up in.
 
Billy69_uk said:
The current government didn't seem too concerned when they were throwing huge sums of cash away during covid.
Click to expand...

With the irony that it was largely the public sector (local government, NHS) that were battling away each day to keep the order.
 
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