Local government workers in the Eastern region are holding rallies this week to launch a strike ballot against employers’ “insulting” pay offer.
Council and schools workers are being urged to vote Yes to action against a 1.75% pay offer – 2.75% for the handful of staff on the very lowest pay band to keep track with the minimum wage.
UNISON points out that the offer is a real-terms pay cut with inflation having soared past 4% already this year.
The union says this is no way to treat workers who have continued tirelessly through the pandemic and done everything they can to keep the country on its feet.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough workers will protest outside the Cambridge Guildhall on Tuesday 30 November from 12.30-1.30pm.
And Suffolk staff will rally outside Ipswich’s Endeavour House from 11am to 2pm on Wednesday 1 December.
Local government workers will rally outside Endeavour House from 11am to 2pm, urging councils and the government to make more money available for local authority pay.
UNISON Eastern head of local government Sam Leigh said: “Council and schools workers have kept going tirelessly through successive lockdowns. They kept communities safe and clean, kept schools open for those who needed them most and kept providing the services that we all rely upon.
“After all their sacrifices, after the hardest year of their lives, it’s a staggering insult to offer these workers a real-terms pay cut.
“We’ve spent months trying to talk to employers about improving this offer but they were only willing to boost their original 1.5% offer by a quarter of a percent. It’s a slap in the face.
“It’s time to say: ‘Enough is enough.’ Council and schools workers have no options left but to vote on strikes to improve their pay.”
The pay ballot, covering all workers on NJC terms and conditions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, takes place from 1 December to 14 January.