GMB North West and Irish Region Connect Magazine May 2017 | Page 12
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GMB NJC Local Government
Pay Consultation for 2018/19
is now open.
Over the coming months we expect campaigning across each Local Authority to be stepped up, across
each Constituency and across as many workplaces we can reach through our army of post-holders. We
need GMB Reps/Organisers to arrange meetings across workplaces to discuss the Local Government
Pay timeline, encourage members to complete the ‘Have your Say on Pay’ survey, recruit workplace
reps and consolidate memberships as appropriate.
Please note the consultation is live and the aim is to run this until early June. After this a meeting will be
called of GMB NJC reps where a pay claim will be agreed and then in consultation with other unions a
pay claim will be submitted to employers by June.
All unions have agreed that one of our priorities is to challenge the pay restraint across Local Govt. It
looks likely that Unison will be consulting over a claim of around 5% increase based on the foundation
living wage as the bottom pay point. Please note all timelines are subject to change and need to remain
flexible due to the General Election that has been called on June 8th. Any delays will only mean longer
leading time for the consultation.
The GMB NJC pay consultation is live across England & Wales. Separate discussions will take place to
assess what support we can offer to Northern Ireland & Scotland.
The GMB NJC Local Government pay consultation pack is
available at the following link
http://www.gmb.org.uk/localgov-workplacemeetingpack.pdf
Discussions with regions have been most helpful. Not only have the discussions influenced the timeline
they have also influenced the approach to this pay consultation. So there is a slight step change from
previous years. It's clearly helpful the GMB Public Services Pay Pinch Campaign has been launched.
The pay pinch campaign is a key building block in galvanising momentum and activity across our
workplaces to support regions in their membership consolidating efforts on pay, terms and conditions.
Hundreds of thousands of Local Government workers have seen their pay drop in real terms. Demand
for Public Services is increasing and yet Local Government workers are asked to do more for less and
many members have felt the consequences with increased stress at work. With a snap General Election
called it’s timely that the ‘Have Your Say on Pay’ Campaign across Local Govt has been launched.
As Theresa May has said, “if your pay has stagnated for
several years in a row and fixed items of spending keep
going up, it doesn’t feel like the economy’s working for you.”
Brexit is pushing inflation up, costing the average full-time worker an extra £1,426 in lost earnings by
2020 if the 1% cap isn’t lifted. We need Councillors, MP’s to oppose a Decade of Pay Cuts.
To support regions in this consultation we have prepared a range of materials. Most materials have
been prepared in response to suggestions and comments from regions.
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In England, the biggest single recorded reason for homelessness is now the
loss of an assured shorthold tenancy - the type of tenancy most commonly
held by private renters.
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