Public sector workers tell Counterfire what they think of Labour’s insulting 2.8 per cent pay offer, and give some suggestions about the fightback we need

One of the first things the Labour government did back in July, was to offer public sector workers the 5.5 per cent recommended for teachers by the STRB. This was done to get the unions on side ready for the massive cuts concealed within Labour’s Plan for Growth. 

Rachel Reeves crowed that ‘austerity is over’, but she was lying. Now, public sector workers are facing a fresh round of cuts that will hit pay, jobs and the services that we depend on. Reeves and Starmer try to hide behind the ‘tough decisions’ forced on them by financial ‘black holes’ and the legacy of Tory misrule, but what are they are doing is leading a class war that former Tory Chancellor, George Osborne, heartily approves of. 

Public sector unions have rightly expressed outrage. And significantly, several public sector employers are expressing frustration that services are entering a period of more uncertainty as cuts eat into budgets and strikes may well be dominating the front pages next year. 

We asked some public sector workers for their response to the 2.8 per cent offer. What is revealed is the urgent need for public sector unions to get together to face this attack as one. 

Alex (NEU): 

NEU General Secretary, Daniel Kebede, hit back at Labour’s offer with, ‘Austerity will be ended in deeds, not words’. The government’s unfunded 2.8 per cent pay offer for teachers is hopelessly inadequate. Fine words about austerity being consigned to the past are no match for delivering more funding to schools. 

A pay rise of 2.8 per cent is insufficient. Teachers won rises of 6.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent over the last two years. These were achieved through 8 days of nationwide strike action by NEU teachers and the threat of further action. 

However, these increases are not enough to reverse the long-term erosion of pay since 2010. They are vital steps towards pay restoration, but further rises are needed. 2.8 per cent will not do that. The rise may lag behind inflation – it will certainly fall below average pay rises across the economy. 

A 2.8 per cent offer is also inadequate to address the recruitment crisis and the retention crisis. The government has yet again missed its targets for teacher recruitment, while qualified teachers continue to leave the profession. Increasing teacher pay – together with tackling workload and restoring professional trust and autonomy – is essential for retaining teachers. 

Worst of all, the ‘offer’ is accompanied by news that schools will not be given money to cover the pay rise. Schools are expected to make savings by making ‘efficiencies’ – a ludicrous and unsustainable idea. Any ‘efficiencies’ would damage children’s education. 

In the absence of any improved offer, the NEU will be gearing up for an indicative ballot for industrial action. Such a collective stand may prove necessary to ensure both fair pay and the higher funding that our schools need and our children deserve. 

Simon (Unison): 

Chickens coming home to roost is the phrase that comes to mind.  

When Unison members in the NHS were offered a derisory 5.5 per cent pay rise earlier this year, it was put out to a ballot, with Unison official communications making it clear to anyone reading between the lines that those in charge of the dispute didn’t want to rock the boat under Starmer’s new Labour Government. So they were happy to settle the dispute and ‘fight another day’.  

Yes, we were given the choice of accepting 5.5 per cent or carrying on the dispute, but the message was clearly weighted towards acceptance. This was followed by the plea to prepare to fight for more in the next pay round, which would deal with pay issues caused by the 20-year-old Agenda for Change pay structure, and negotiating a shorter working week.  

Now, the Pay Review Body has recommended just 2.8 per cent for this year, and the Government has accepted this, but also said that it wants to start talking about pay restructuring in “the second half of the year”, this means that Unison’s own agenda would be shelved this year.  

This leaves NHS workers struggling with the continuing cost of living crisis, and a pay rise less than the rate of inflation Many NHS workers are paid little more than the minimum wage. Whilst the CPI rate of inflation might be at 2.3 per cent for the year to October, the CPIH (including owner-occupiers’ housing costs) is 3.2 per cent, and the RPI was 3.4 per cent.  

So for the vast majority of NHS workers, and most Unison members, the 2.8 per cent pay offer would be a real terms pay cut.  

The question is: will Unison rise to the challenge of representing its members’ interests rather than those of Starmer’s Labour Government, or will rank and file members have to push them into action?  

Sean (UCU): 

FE lecturers have had to watch from the side-lines as their NEU colleagues in 32 non-academised sixth form colleges have taken industrial action to secure the 5.5 per cent offered to schoolteachers earlier this year. The failure of UCU to organise national action in defence of lecturers’ pay and conditions has never been more glaring. FE staff deliver essentially the same curriculums as their counterparts in sixth forms and yet, year in and year out, are expected to suck up lower rates of pay. This long-standing inequality in the post-16 sector not only affects FE staff; it also means the students they teach (mostly from working class backgrounds) are less likely to be taught by specialist, experienced tutors as the sector is less attractive to those who wish to build a career in teaching. The pay gap between schools and colleges is now wider than ever. Any graduate considering a career in education will find the former far more attractive than the latter in terms of pay and conditions.  

The statement from the DFE that schoolteachers are only being offered 2.8 % next year means this knock-on crisis in FE is likely to be exacerbated. Regrettably, UCU national leadership has repeatedly failed to push for co-ordinated action across the FE sector in recent years and instead, has left the responsibility to local branches to sustain their own campaigns. Inevitably these have dwindled in the face of pressure both from hostile college leaders and unenthusiastic regional officials.  

Activists in UCU are pushing for a special FE sector conference in the Spring to mandate national action and are calling for a guarantee from the government that the additional £300 million announced for FE in the budget is used to tackle the pay gap. 

Next steps

The comments above reveal the unevenness of trade union combativity and preparedness across the public sector, in the face of an undeclared class war. Divisions on our side can only embolden the government. A joined up response committed to taking decisive action will knock the confidence from Labour and make them think again. 

Now is the time for rank and file activists to start campaigning for the next steps we need to take. Make it clear to union leaders that our public services are not just workplaces, they are a vital part of the social infrastructure of working class life. And a cut to one is a cut to all. 

We should propose at all levels of union organisation that we need a joined up public sector union strategy, with joint rallies, conferences and days of strike action. There should be no loyalty shown to a party that is on the wrong side of history at home and abroad. Our class comes first.