For council and school workers NJC Pay Offer 2018-20

Trade Union Side Claim 2018-2019 Trade Union Side claim submitted in June 2017. UNISON, GMB and Unite asked for: The Foundation Living Wage as the lowest scale point 5% on all scale points after the Foundation Living Wage applied

NJC pay offer 2018-2020 Key features: Two-year ‘final’ offer from 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2020 Incorporates joint review of NJC pay spine Increase on lowest scale point (scp) 6 = 15.65% Increase on scp 29 and above = 4.04% 4.04% increase also on scale points above scp 49

Background to the pay offer Strong support from the LGA Labour Group And the Shadow Cabinet Lots of political lobbying... LGA Labour Group forced a vote on the Employers Side Lib Dems voted with the Tories who wanted 1% in each year

NJC Pay Explained The NJC pay spine – pay points from scp 6-49 Used by councils and schools to construct their local pay grades – many variations UNISON with GMB and Unite submit a pay claim to the Local Government Association who represent employers in negotiations The pay increase is applied to the NJC pay spine London and a few other councils have their own pay spines

Principles of the offer Designed to: Give ‘headroom’ above NLW End compression at bottom of pay spine Create even 2% gaps between scp’s.. ...though offer only up to new scp 22 (old scp 28)

The offer - year 1 Scp 6 - Increase from £7.78 to £8.50 = 9.19% Scp 12 – From £8.36 to £8.90 = 6.51% Scp 19 – From £9.72 to £10.08 = 3.73% Scp 20 and above – 2%

The offer - year 2 New pay spine kicks in Bottom rate of £9 per hour on new scp 1 Old scp’s 6-17 ‘paired off’ to create new scp’s 1-6 incl. 2% gaps between new scp’s 1 – 22 incl. New equal steps mean new scp’s 10, 13, 16, 18 and 21 2% on new scp’s 23 and above West Sussex branch will be discussing the implementation of the award with WSCC if accepted, and what this means for increments

Year 2 continued New scp 1 increase = 5.92%/5.27% News scp 23 and above increase = 2%

Cumulative increase in pay over 2 years New scp 1 = 15.65%/14.88% New scp 4 = 14.28%/11.73% New scp 8 = 6.40% New scp 12 = 4.49% New scp 23 and above = 4.04%

UNISON says REJECT UNISON’s NJC Committee is recommending members reject the two-year 2018/20 pay offer. The Committee believes that the offer falls short of our claim However, the Committee is clear that the offer is the best achievable by negotiation and that nothing short of substantial, all-out strike action could have the potential to improve the offer

UNISON says REJECT Inflation is predicted as 2.9% in the first quarter of 2018 and 2.8% in the first quarter of 2019 meaning: Two-thirds employees get below inflation increase in 2018 Nearly half of employees get below inflation increase in 2019 Higher increases have to be paid to give headroom above National Living Wage Those on Foundation Living Wage will not benefit as much Central government should fund the pay increase Inflation is currently 4.1%. It is predicted to fall to 2.9% in the first quarter of 2018 and drop further to 2.8% in the first quarter of 2019. This means the pay increase in 2018 will be below 2.9% for about two thirds of local government workers. In 2019, nearly half will receive an increase below the predicted rate of inflation, so both groups will effectively receive a pay cut   The increases for the lower paid are only being made to provide headroom above projected increases in the National Living Wage . The NLW will be £7.83p from 1 April 2018. The Low Pay Commission will recommend a new rate for 2019, when inflation is predicted to be 2.8%. A 2.8% increase in 2019 would give a new rate of £7.74p. Almost two thirds of councils now pay the ‘real’ Foundation Living Wage of £8.75p outside London and £10.20p in London so the pay offer will not benefit many local government employees. UNISON is campaigning for central government funding for the offer. Research for UNISON by the New Policy Institute shows that almost half the cost of our claim for local government workers would be met from higher tax and National Insurance income for the Government and reduced in-work benefit costs

Funding the offer LGA says that council budgets will have been cut by 75% by 2020 65% now spent on social care English and Welsh Local Government Settlements 2018 -19 did not include a new element for the NLW or the pay offer But many councils have ‘unallocated’ reserves Some schools too

UNISON, GMB and Unite consulting to same timetable UNISON’s consultation starts on 29 January and ends on 9 March GMB is consulting on ‘best achievable by negotiation’ through all-member postal ballot Unite is also recommending rejection UNISON NJC Committee meets on 16 March to consider responses We need a high UNISON turnout so we have an accurate picture of members’ views. It’s YOUR union and YOUR pay!