IMPORTANT NEWS ON NATIONAL PAY: On Thursday 21 February the local government employers finally tabled two distinct offers on pay.
The first was for a rise of just 1% across the board, but with strings attached, while a second offer without pre-conditions would grant a 1% rise to those on Scale 1 and a mere 0.6% (yes, that is three-fifths of one percent!) to the rest of us.
These derisory offers come after three years of an absolute pay freeze that has seen the real value of salaries plunge for most Camden employees by some 15%. In response to the employers’ proposals, an emergency meeting of UNISON’s National Joint Council (NJC) members on Wednesday 27 February voted decisively to reject both offers and to launch a pay campaign that would include a call for industrial action up to and including strikes to win a real pay increase. The UNISON position will be put to a joint meeting with the other nationally recognised unions, the GMB and Unite, on Wednesday of next week (6 March). We hope that further information may be available for presentation at the AGM on 7 March.