After a year in which the British Public has been astounded and disgusted by the levels of greed and avarice that have been displayed by the pigs in the trough at Westminster, comes the news that we have all been waiting to hear. MPs are to be given a rise of 1.5%, taking their basic pay to £65,000.
While local government workers throughout the UK have been denied any rise this year, being told that there is a recession and that someone needs to pay for it, the fat cats who have milked the public purse for every penny will now get just short of £1250 per week, excluding whatever they are claiming in expenses.
In just 15 weeks every MP in the country will earn as much as two thirds of the local government workforce does in a year. Unison members in local government meantime are effectively facing pay cut, as inflation slowly starts to rise. To quote the local government employers, they have decided “that they are not able to award an annual pay rise to employees in local authorities in recognition of the extremely tight financial situation facing councils”.
But as Heather Wakefield has continually pointed out "We know that councils can afford an increase. Council reserves have grown, while many have chosen to cut their own income by freezing council tax. Our members will be outraged by this threatened pay freeze.”
But constraint on pay obviously only applies to the low paid. Housing workers, social workers, social care workers, education workers, benefit advisers all of whom contribute to the standard of life in our communities are asked to pay the price of the recession. Workers who have really made a difference to our communities as families face job loss and homelessness will continue to see their own standard of living cut.
But pay cuts for local government workers have consequences beyond those of the individual households. The facts are that the two thirds of local government members who earn £18000 or less spend that money within the local community, keeping local businesses going and keeping local jobs stimulated. Cuts in those wages have an immediate effect in the local community.
Indignation however is not enough. If our MPs believe that they are worth it, Unisonactive would like them to tell us why. Contact http://www.writetothem.com// and ask your MP:-
If public sector workers are subject to a pay freeze ( effectively meaning a pay cut) why are MPs exempt?
Is it fair that two thirds of the local government workforce who get £18000 a year get nothing while MPs will now get a wage of £65000?
If you get a reply, forward it to UNISONActive at uact1@hotmail.co.uk
