8 August 2014
Police Staff Pay Bulletin No. 4
VOTE TO REJECT 1% OFFER
UNISON will be consulting you shortly on the employers’ offer to increase police staff pay by
1% this year.
UNISON will be recommending that you vote to reject the offer and that we move to a
formal industrial action ballot in support of our claim. You will remember that the trade unions
submitted a claim for a 3%, or £500, pay rise (whichever is the greater) earlier this year.
The pay consultation ballot will take place between 20 August and 9 September and will be
organised by your local UNISON branch. It is really important that you vote in the ballot.
We need to show the employers just how strongly our members feel about their pay and how
badly you have been hit in the pocket in recent years. Now is the time to speak up!
UNISON encourages you to get fully involved in the pay consultation and talk with your
colleagues at work about the importance of fair pay for police staff.
WHY IS UNISON ASKING YOU TO REJECT 1%?
UNISON is recommending that you vote to reject the 1% pay offer, because:
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Your salary is worth 13% less than it was in 2010
This is the result of inflation, the two year pay freeze in 2011 and 2012 and the below
inflation pay rise last year
The government wants to restrict public sector workers’ pay rises at the very least up
to 2017
If your pay continues to flat line, your salary will be worth 30% less in 2018 than it
was in 2010
As well as the impact on you and your family’s living standards, just think about the
effect that government pay policy is having on the value of your pension
If we don’t push back on pay this year, when will we?
HOLDING BACK ON PAY WON’T SAVE JOBS!
You may be told that improving police staff pay will only cause more police staff to be made
redundant. The reality is that since 2010, police staff have borne the brunt of the
government’s cuts to police budgets:
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15,000 police staff jobs have been lost
3,500 PCSO jobs have been lost
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The average reduction in the police staff workforce between 2010 and 2014 was 19%
The average reduction in the police officer workforce for the same period was 11%
Police staff jobs have been cut nearly twice as hard
These job cuts took place despite two years of pay freeze and the 1% pay award last
year
Holding back on pay did not stop the job cuts
WHAT ABOUT INDUSTRIAL ACTION?
The pay consultation exercise is not an industrial action ballot, and you are not
committing yourself to take any industrial action as a result of your vote at this stage.
UNISON will use the results of this consultation, which is taking place in forces across
England and Wales, to gauge support for such action in the future.
If a majority of members indicate that they wish to reject the pay offer and are prepared to
take industrial action, up to and including strike action, then UNISON will be in a strong
position to ask the employers to come back to the negotiating table to improve the offer. If an
improved offer is not forthcoming, we will then have a mandate to move to a formal industrial
action ballot.
The pay consultation is therefore your chance to send the strongest possible message to the
employers that you are angry about your pay and that you want them to improve the offer.
But we have to back this up with potential industrial action.
This is why we will be recommending that you vote to reject the offer and indicate that
you are prepared to take industrial action up to and including strike action in support
of our original pay claim.
NOT YET A UNISON MEMBER?
UNISON is fighting for fair pay for police staff. If you agree with us, but are not yet a
member, you can vote in the pay consultation exercise if you join now.
Please speak to your local UNISON representative to find out about how to join, or join
online at: www.joinunison.org Together we are stronger.