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| Band |
|
Before | After | Change | as % of earnings | ||
| A | £0-£1,000 | £1.81 | £1.30 | -£0.51 | 3.12 | 4.34 | |
| £1,001-£2,000 | £1.81 | £1.30 | -£0.51 | 1.04 | 1.45 | ||
| B | £2,001-£3,000 | £3.90 | £3.50 | -£0.40 | 1.68 | 1.87 | |
| £3,001-£4,000 | £3.90 | £3.50 | -£0.40 | 1.20 | 1.34 | ||
| £4,001-£5,000 | £3.90 | £3.50 | -£0.40 | 0.93 | 1.04 | ||
| C | £5,001-£6,000 | £5.34 | £5.30 | -£0.04 | 1.16 | 1.17 | |
| £6,001-£7,000 | £5.34 | £5.30 | -£0.04 | 0.98 | 0.99 | ||
| £7,001-£8,000 | £6.59 | £5.30 | -£1.29 | 0.85 | 1.05 | ||
| D | £8,001-£9,000 | £6.59 | £6.60 | £0.01 | 0.93 | 0.93 | |
| £9,001-£10,000 | £6.59 | £6.60 | £0.01 | 0.83 | 0.83 | ||
| £10,001-£11,000 | £7.78 | £6.60 | -£1.18 | 0.75 | 0.89 | ||
| E | £11,001-£12,000 | £7.78 | £7.85 | £0.07 | 0.82 | 0.81 | |
| £12,001-£13,000 | £7.78 | £7.85 | £0.07 | 0.75 | 0.75 | ||
| £13,001-£14,000 | £7.78 | £7.85 | £0.07 | 0.70 | 0.69 | ||
| F | £14,001-£15,000 | £7.78 | £9.70 | £1.92 | 0.80 | 0.64 | |
| £15,001-£16,000 | £9.57 | £9.70 | £0.13 | 0.75 | 0.74 | ||
| £16,001-£17,000 | £9.57 | £9.70 | £0.13 | 0.71 | 0.71 | ||
| G | £17,001-£18,000 | £9.57 | £11.50 | £1.93 | 0.79 | 0.66 | |
| £18,001-£19,000 | £9.57 | £11.50 | £1.93 | 0.75 | 0.62 | ||
| £19,001-£20,000 | £9.57 | £11.50 | £1.93 | 0.71 | 0.59 | ||
| H | £20,001-£21,000 | £13.57 | £14.00 | £0.43 | 0.82 | 0.79 | |
| £21,001-£22,000 | £13.57 | £14.00 | £0.43 | 0.78 | 0.76 | ||
| £22,001-£23,000 | £13.57 | £14.00 | £0.43 | 0.75 | 0.72 | ||
| £23,001-£24,000 | £13.57 | £14.00 | £0.43 | 0.71 | 0.69 | ||
| £24,001-£25,000 | £13.57 | £14.00 | £0.43 | 0.69 | 0.66 | ||
| I | £25,001-£26,000 | £16.81 | £17.25 | £0.44 | 0.81 | 0.79 | |
| £26,001-£27,000 | £16.81 | £17.25 | £0.44 | 0.78 | 0.76 | ||
| £27,001-£28,000 | £16.81 | £17.25 | £0.44 | 0.75 | 0.73 | ||
| £28,001-£29,000 | £16.81 | £17.25 | £0.44 | 0.73 | 0.71 | ||
| £29,001-£30,000 | £16.81 | £17.25 | £0.44 | 0.70 | 0.68 | ||
| J | £30,001-£31,000 | £16.81 | £20.30 | £3.49 | 0.80 | 0.66 | |
| £31,001-£32,000 | £16.81 | £20.30 | £3.49 | 0.77 | 0.64 | ||
| £32,001-£33,000 | £16.81 | £20.30 | £3.49 | 0.75 | 0.62 | ||
| £33,001-£34,000 | £16.81 | £20.30 | £3.49 | 0.73 | 0.60 | ||
| £34,001-£35,000 | £16.81 | £20.30 | £3.49 | 0.71 | 0.58 | ||
| K | over £35,000 | £16.81 | £22.50 | £5.69 | 0.76 | 0.57 | |
At the UNISON SBC Branch AGM on 29 Jan, the membership voted unanimously to donate £250 to the Fire Brigades Union.
The presentation was made at 9am on Saturday 1 Feb as the Slough Fire Brigade started a 2-day strike.
Date: 26 September 2002
2002 Local Government Pay: ACAS Proposals Accepted
It has been announced that the ACAS proposals on this years pay claim have been accepted by both by the three NJC unions as well as the employers side.
Nationally a total of 187,399 UNISON members took part by voting on this issue with 148,045 voting to accept the ACAS proposals.
Locally 615 ballot papers were sent out. 245 members returned their ballot papers by the closing date, with 230 voting to accept.
Locally and nationally UNISON is pressing the employers to pay the increase and back pay in October.
UNISON Nationally is now preparing to turn its attention to the Pay Commission, with the demand that it must address all the issues affecting all members in Local Government; this includes Low Pay, equal pay, the failure to implement Single Status across the country, recruitment and retention, treatment of part time, term time & temporary workers and the impact of privatisation on members pay and conditions.
When more information about the pay commission is available this will be sent out to all members.
Date: 7 August 2002
2002 Local Government Pay: Proposals and Consultation
To:
Secretaries of Local Government Branches (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
(Scotland - for information)
Regional Heads of Local Government
Registered Professional/Sectional Bodies - for information
7 August 2002
| URGENT: Branches in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are asked to consult on the 2002 local government pay proposals. Details for consultation and the timetable are set out below. Branches have until 16 September 2002 to complete their consultations. |
Lengthy talks on the 2002/3 NJC pay claim ended at ACAS on 5 August with an agreement by UNISON, the other two unions and the employers to recommend proposals on pay put forward by ACAS. The all-out day of industrial action planned for 14 August and the selective action to follow on 15 August will be suspended pending the outcome of the consultation. The consultation period will end on 20 September. The employers will be consulting local authorities at the same time.
The ACAS proposals take the form of a two-year staged deal which results in a 10.95% pay increase of 52 pence an hour over two years for members on spinal column point 4. An initial £5 an hour from 1 April 2002 will be increased to £5.32 pence from 1 April 2003. The employers' initial offer was for 3%, which would have resulted in an increase of only 15 pence for our members on spinal column point 4. The increase for all those on spinal column point 6 and above will be 7.7% over the same period. Economic forecasts suggest that the proposals will
comfortably outstrip inflation. However, UNISON has reserved its right to reopen negotiations if inflation should rise unexpectedly.
The ACAS proposals
Full details of the proposals are as follows:
The proposals also include the setting up of a Commission on local government pay. The Commission will investigate the key long-term problems of equal pay and low pay which UNISON has highlighted in this year's claim. Implementation of
Single Status will also fall within this remit. The Commission will have an independent chair and will be able to call on independent advisors. The Equal Opportunities Commission will also have a role. The Commission will report to the
NJC in September 2003.
A significant advance for the low paid
The ACAS proposals represent a significant step forward for UNISON's lowest paid members in local government and an above inflation deal for all our members. The Commission on local government pay will inform future negotiations and provide the basis for further action on the key underlying pay problems facing our members working for local councils. All three unions are recommending the proposals.
The Consultation Process
It is important that as many members as possible take part in the pay consultation. Please use the revised Pay Consultation Procedures which were agreed at Local Government Conference (attached). Branches and regions are therefore asked to pay particular attention to consulting as widely as possible on the pay proposals and following the agreed procedures.
Branches should ensure that all members have the opportunity to take part in the consultation on the pay proposals. A ballot of members is likely to produce the highest participation rate, particularly in dispersed branches or where there are few stewards. A combination of branch and workplace meetings is acceptable, where the branch believe it will produce the highest possible response. In any case, branches should record only those members actually voting, not the whole branch membership.
Branches will then aggregate the votes for and against the national recommendation and send them to regional offices within the specified timetable.
Timetable
Branches have until 12 noon on Monday 16 September 2002 to forward the result of their consultation to the regional office using the attached pro forma. Regional offices have been asked to send the result to the national office by midday on Friday 20 September 2002.
The consultation questions
It is important that every branch consults on the same basis. The wording on the attached pro forma states:
The UNISON Local Government Committee has agreed to consult members on the following options:
Many UNISON members are not directly employed by local government but are on local government pay rates. Likewise there are some members in local government on pay rates other than those of the NJC (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Branches should only consult those members who would directly benefit from any pay offer: that is, those who are directly conditioned to National Joint Council for Local Government Services pay rates. This would include those staff in the voluntary sector, contracted out services and grant maintained schools who are employed on national NJC pay rates.
Branches should not consult those members covered by other agreements such as probation service ancillary workers, craft workers, youth and community workers, chief officers, Soulbury staff, staff in airports, FE colleges, new towns and sixth form colleges. Nor should members on locally agreed pay rates, or on individual contracts not directly related to NJC pay rates be consulted.
Branches should only record the number of members actually voting, not the total number of members in the branch.
If branches have any difficulty in deciding whom to consult, they should seek advice from their regional office.
{Signed}
Heather Wakefield
National Secretary
Local Government Service Group
LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNION SET TO BALLOT FOR STRIKE ACTION OVER PAY
WHAT ABOUT YOUR PENSION IF THERE WAS STRIKE ACTION?
Introduction
One question the Branch officers are often asked, When there's any suggestion of a strike or other industrial action, is "what would happen to my pension?" It is also an issue that management raise, in an attempt to stop people planning such action. So this factsheet is intended to spell out the position.
What is the position?
Under the LGPS, any whole days of strike action for which you are not paid, are not counted as "service" towards the calculation of your pension benefits. Your Employer has no discretion about this - these are the rules laid down in the regulations.
It is possible to buy back the service lost, at your own cost, but the rules are quite tight. You must buy back all the days you have lost, not just a proportion. You have to pay both the employer's and employee's contribution, which is calculated as
*16% of the gross pensionable pay that you would have received if not on strike. The extra contributions will be deducted from pay. Normally this is as a single payment, but the employer has the discretion to spread it over a longer period.
Either the Pension Office 9r Payroll Section of your employer can provide a form for people to fill in and send back, if this is what they want to do. Think carefully - once you have made the decision it cannot be changed.
The people who administer LGPS pensions schemes usually advise anyone in this position to telephone their payroll section first, to get an estimate of what the cost to them would be, before they sign the form. You have 3 months after the end of the dispute (longer if the employer allows) to make up your mind.
In most cases, the effect of a short strike on your pension is going to be too small for buying back to be worthwhile, though you might want to consider it if you were involved in lengthy action.
Example
| Let's assume you
had 10 years' service and pensionable earnings of £15,000 and were
on strike for six days-. If you decided to buy back, you would need to
pay (£15,000 + 365 x 6%) x *16% = £39.45.
If you did buy back, and retired two years later still on the same earnings, buying back would mean you had a pension of £3 a year more, and a lump sum of £9 more than if you did not do so. |
People in their last year of service
Since they have had
lower pay in that year, people who take strike action in their last year
of service will also have their benefits calculated on a slightly reduced
pay figure. So for this reason, those who are in this position are usually
exempted from strike action, in order to avoid any effect on their pension.
NB The % may differ
for each Local Authority and the figure of 16% is used for example as the
basis of calculation only.
National Pensions
Unit
April 2002
THE BALLOT KICKS OFF!
This week will see the kick-off of the ballot for industrial action on pay. Ballot papers will be sent to members from 10 June, with a leaflet making the strong case for a "yes" vote. Most members vote in the first week of any ballot.
BRANCHES
ARE URGED TO USE EVERY MEANS POSSIBLE TO MAKE THE CASE FOR A "YES" VOTE
TO MEMBERS AND GET THEM TO USE THEIR VOTE TO KICK OUT THE EMPLOYERS' PATHETIC
3% OFFER.
MAKE THE MOST OF THE MEDIA
The employers are intending to counter our campaign through the national media, appeals to the public and local press and publicity initiatives. Attached is a copy of their mailing which details their plans and includes the arguments they will be making to the media. BRANCHES AND REGIONS NEED TO USE THE CAMPAIGN MATERIALS AND THE CLAIM TO COUNTER THE EMPLOYERS' ARGUMENTS WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
There will be daily
media "messages" sent to Regional Heads next week from the National Office.
We will be highlighting the "Goodbye to Goodwill" theme, emphasising the
large amount of unpaid overtime our members work to deliver local services.
Attached is a briefing, drawing on the results of the NOP survey which
demonstrates the value of unpaid overtime and what proportion of the annual
salary of some of our members it constitutes. THIS ARGUMENT
IS AN IMPORTANT ONE AND SHOWS THAT AT TIME AND A HALF RATES MANY
OF OUR MEMBERS WOULD RECEIVE MORE IN OVERTIME PAY THAN THE £1,750
OR 6% WE ARE CLAIMING.
REGIONAL NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS
Campaign advertisements
are being placed in key regional newspapers from 10 to 14 June. An advert
was also placed in the free newspaper "First" sent to all councillors on
1 June. Further adverts will be placed toward the end of the ballot period.
They highlight the feeling that "enough is enough", even among members
who have been reluctant to take strike action in the past.
EMPLOYERS ARGUE FOR "SERVICES" NOT "STAFF"
The employers are
also making a strong argument that councils cannot afford the increase
and that council tax payers would need to pay an additional £80 to
fund it. Branches need to make the argument that there is a false separation
made by the employers between "services" and "staff". Most local government
services ARE
the staff, with 70% council budgets
spent on staffing. We realise that councils are strapped for cash and we
have consistently argued for local government to be properly funded. Government
and councils need to realise that without higher pay, recruitment and retention
problems will increase and services will fail.
"VOTE YES" PENS
"Vote Yes" pens have
been sent to all branches and regions and should be used in media and campaign
activities and distributed to stewards.
TAKING STRIKE ACTION
Further materials
and advice on taking strike action will be distributed to regions and branches
before the ballot ends on 5 July.
Last Updated on 03/02/2003
By Andrew Gosling
Email: [email protected]