The pay claim A minimum increase of £1 an hour on scale point 5 to achieve the Living Wage and the same flat rate increase on all scale points. The Living Wage has risen to £7.65 an hour, so we would need an increase of £1.20 on scale point 5 to reach it.

The Employers’ Final Offer 1% for pay points (90% of workforce.) Pay points 5-10 offered over 1% to avoid local government falling below National Minimum Wage: New Hourly Rate £580 on pay point 5£6.75 £550 on pay point 6£6.82 £400 on pay point 7£6.90 £275 on pay point 8£7.05 £200 on pay point 9£7.22 £175 on pay point 10£7.35.

The Employers Final Offer minimum NJC pay still the lowest Minimum hourly rate £ Local Government ( with £580 offer on pay point 5)6.75 NHS Agenda for Change7.31 Higher Education7.06 Further Education7.43 Probation7.57 Police staff (E & W)7.74 Civil Service HM Revenue & Customs7.65 Foreign & Commonwealth Office9.41 Department for Education9.38 Department for Work and Pensions7.62 Dept Enviro, Food & Rural Affairs 8.05 Cabinet Office8.95 Private Sector Tesco6.91 BT6.80 HSBC7.43

What does the offer mean? The offer falls woefully short of our claim - and what members deserve. It does nothing to help restore 20% real loss in NJC pay since 2010 and its impact on your pension. It means a further 1.7% pay cut for the vast majority of members. It leaves over a third of a million below the Living Wage and the lowest paid 50,000 just 30p above the National Minimum Wage..

Your Pay – Your Say UNISON strongly recommends that you reject the offer. If you do reject it, you must be prepared to take strike action to try and win an improved offer. UNISON believes that we should move to an official industrial action ballot in support of our claim. Tell us what you think - take part in your branch ballot.

Why our claim is a fair claim The real value of your pay has fallen by 18% since 2010 Over a third of a million local government workers earn less than the Living Wage – that’s 25% of the workforce. Nearly 1 million earn less than £21,000 – the Coalition’s own low pay threshold. Everyone on NJC pay is low paid for the job they do. Local government pay and conditions the worst in the public sector.

More for less Cost of living rises, a three-year pay freeze and 1% last year means you are doing more for less. 450,000 jobs lost in local government since 2010 means heavier workloads. Vacant and frozen posts not being filled either. Stress levels are rising and morale is falling. Fuel, travel, food prices and childcare costs all rising.

378,000 earn less than the living wage The Living Wage: the bare minimum for acceptable standard of living. £7.65 outside London and £8.80 in London. 28% of councils have already brought in a living wage, 45% are considering it and 7% have it under review or already pay more. Political leaders from all parties support the living wage. Employers forced to increase bottom pay points in pay offer more than 1% to avoid falling below National Minimum Wage – the lowest legal rate of pay.

But its not just the lowest paid struggling... … everyone is worse off now than in 2009

Poor relations of the public sector Local Government has the worst pay and conditions in the whole of the public sector for comparable jobs. From the bottom of the pay spine through to the top. Cleaners and catering assistants earn about £800 a year (6%) more in the NHS. And about £950 a year (7%) more in the police service.

NHSNJC NHS Job title Average salary Difference between NJC and NHS % NHS pay higher than NJC Pay Domestic support worker Cleaner£14,003£14,813£8105.8% Clinical support worker (higher level) Community care assistant £17,980£19,011£1,0315.7% Social worker £33,051£34,070£1,0193.1% Senior social worker Senior social worker £37,287£40,017£2,7307.3% Nursery nurse Nursery worker £17,983£21,722£3, % Comparing NJC and NHS pay

Local Cuts add insult to injury! Shabby treatment by employers on pay and conditions: Over 60% of councils have cut car allowances. Many have cut unsocial hours and overtime. Sick pay, basic pay and redundancy pay have been cut. Others have imposed unpaid holidays and cut annual leave. The Employers are coming hard for annual leave and sick pay.

The cuts don’t work! The cuts are not necessary. They are making the deficit rise! The crisis was caused by the unsafe and greedy practice of the banks and the finance sector – not public spending. Cutting pay and jobs is not the answer. We need to get the economy working again. Research shows that for every £1 a local government worker earns – 50 pence gets spent in their local economy. Higher wages means more local spending - boosting local businesses, increasing tax and NI returns and creating jobs. A pay rise for 1.5 million local government workers will make a big difference.

The employers will say......they can’t afford it. But... Since 2010 councils saved a quarter of their staffing costs. Their reserves rose by £2.6 billion to £19 billion! The extra £2.6 billion in 2012 alone would pay for a 10% pay increase. They chose to boost reserves further instead of rewarding their overworked staff – who are getting poorer.

But there is an alternative An increase in your pay of at least £1 an hour will: Generate significant savings for the Treasury in benefits and tax credits. Plus income from increased tax and national insurance. 55% of cost of meeting claim ‘self funded’ for government - New Policy Institute research. Our claim could be funded by recycling these savings to local authorities – ‘joined up’ government.

New Policy Institute Research Net public sector cost of £1 pay rise at each spinal column point

If you accept this pay offer For 90% of you accepting the offer means your pay will be worth 20% less than in If inflation and pay rises continue as now your pay will be 26% less by Another pay cut won’t save jobs. Another pay cut won’t save services. These pay cuts are long term.

Vote to reject the pay offer! ALL this will continue unless you take action now There ARE political choices DON’T be taken for granted YOU are worth much more than this bargain basement pay offer AND so are those who rely on you

What happens next? All branches balloting members on offer using standard ballot form. Only strike action can achieve an improved offer. UNISON NJC Committee meeting on 24 April to consider responses. GMB and UNITE consulting their members along same lines. If support UNISON will move to official industrial action ballot in May. Important all members have their say so decision reflects your view.

What can I do to help the campaign? Talk to work mates about what’s going on – tell them UNISON is fighting to win them a pay rise and defend their jobs – they must vote! If they’re not in UNISON sign them up – we’re stronger together. Become an NJC pay ‘champion’ and help the campaign. Follow us on Join our facebook campaign: facebook.com/UnisoninLocalGovernment