PM urged to fund a fair pay rise for council workers

UNISON has urged the Prime Minister to make funding available for council workers who keep communities safe and clean, educate children and care for the sick and elderly to have the pay rise they deserve.

In a letter to Boris Johnson, the union’s general secretary Christina McAnea said the local services that have been vital to millions will only continue to be resilient if they have ‘a valued and fairly rewarded workforce’. She pointed out these workers are often ‘low-paid women who have been the backbone of our country throughout the pandemic’.

The union is urging the Prime Minister to intervene and says extra money in the pockets of care workers, school caterers, cleaners, refuse collectors, housing officers, crematorium workers and other council colleagues will go back into the high street to rejuvenate local economies.

McAnea said: “Workers such as refuse collectors, social workers, teaching assistants and street cleaners have gone above and beyond during the pandemic. They went to work, so that others could stay home. They are not well-paid and 25 per cent has been wiped from the value of their pay since 2010. The majority are low-paid women who have been the backbone of our country throughout the pandemic. So it is indefensible that they should now be offered a real-terms pay cut. Local government workers deserve a pay rise and this must be funded from central government as councils’ resources are already tight.”