PEOPLE will have heard a great deal in the news recently about the public sector pay cap. We are now ten years after the global financial crisis and have lived through seven years of government driven austerity policies. Despite this, public sector workers and all those who rely on public services continue to pay the price through cuts to jobs and services. Public service workers have suffered a seven year pay freeze. Public sector workers have seen the value of their pay fall behind the cost of living by an average of £3,875 since 2010. If the pay cap continues then this pay gap will grow by another £2,200.

We have all seen in the news that the pay cap affects fire fighters, police officers and nurses. However the public sector pay cap also affects, care workers, admin staff, school meals workers, community assessment officers, teaching assistants, social workers, school crossing patrol staff and many, many more. We need a commitment to ensure ALL public service workers receive a meaningful pay increase. So far we much of what we have seen is only vague promises to offer small increases to some workers and not others. I would urge Bolton News readers to sign and support the Unison petition calling for government to scrap the public sector pay cap and help ensure that all public service workers get a meaningful pay rise.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200032

Martin Challender

Communications Officer

Bolton Unison