Public sector pay freeze ‘a body blow’ to frontline workers, unions say
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Education and social care unions have criticised the government’s decision to freeze pay for public sector workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his one-year Spending Review announced today, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the government could not “justify across the board pay rises” due to the impact of the pandemic on private sector jobs.
He added that 2.1 million public sector workers earning below the median wage of £24,000 were "guaranteed a pay rise of at least £250" while more than a million NHS workers, including doctors and nurses, will also get a raise.
Sunak also announced a 2.2 per cent increase of the National Living Wage and extended it to 23- and 24-year-olds for the first time.
However, the announcement of a pay freeze has sparked criticism among teaching unions and local authority bodies after teachers and social workers were classed as frontline workers throughout the crisis.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary at the National Education Union (NEU) said the announcement came as a “body blow” to teachers and support staff who “have kept the country going during the pandemic”.
"Teachers and support staff are working in schools and colleges without PPE, without social distancing and without adequate cleaning. Teachers are teaching their normal timetable and then preparing remote learning for pupils isolating at home. They are supporting pupils who are anxious and stressed because of the increased challenges Covid is bringing to their families.
"It is not enough for government ministers to thank teachers for their vital contribution during Covid. Such sentiments ring hollow when they are then subject to a pay freeze which follows previous pay freezes and years of below-inflation pay increases which have eaten into the real value of their pay since 2010. Support staff face the prospect of yet more below-inflation pay increases. These pay cuts will hit education workers just as inflation is expected to pick up in late 2021.
"Today’s announcement will negate all the government’s attempts to keep teachers in the profession. It will make recruitment and retention problems even worse to the detriment of our young people, their parents and the economy,” she added.
Unite the Union branded the move a “divide and rule” tactic with assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail, saying: “This mainly female workforce already juggle work commitments, childcare responsibilities and care for elderly relatives, yet kept vital services running throughout the pandemic, at times due to government failures in PPE provision, risking their own health in the service of others.”
Jonathan Carr-West, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit said: “Pay rises for doctors and nurses are welcome and no one could begrudge them after the 2020 they’ve had, but care workers have also had a horrific year.
“By deepening the chasm between NHS and social care, we will exacerbate the staffing challenge many areas already have and create further pressure for the health service in the future.”
Meanwhile, early years leaders have warned that a lack of investment in the sector could mean pay increases and the extension of the National Living Wage may “cause further financial worries for employers”.
“Failure to factor wage uplifts into providers’ hourly rates threatens to make childcare businesses unsustainable. This would result in the policy aim of improving low pay undermining other policy areas, like delivering funded early education and childcare,” Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association said.
