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GMB
SEEKS £7.45 PER HOUR (£8.55 LONDON) LIVING WAGE FOR 280,000 COUNCIL
WORKERS
IT is also nonsensical that
their pay has to be topped up by benefits when they could have the
dignity of being paid fairly at very little net cost to the public
purse says GMB
GMB, the union for public sector workers, launched a campaign to win
a living wage of £7.45ph (£8.55ph in London) for 280,000 low paid
workers in councils across England and Wales. In this GMB has
secured the support of Labour front bench for higher pay for low
paid council staff.
Council pay rates start at £6.30ph, just 11p above the national
minimum wage. As a result hundreds of thousands of council workers
are forced to claim tax credits, free school meals, housing benefit
and council tax benefit to make ends meet.
Trade Union Side of the NJC has already a claim for a pay increase
for our members in 2013/14 as follows:- "A substantial flat
rate increase on all scale points as a step towards the longer term
objective of restoring pay levels and achieving the living wage as
the bottom NJC spinal column point"
In front line occupations such as care workers, school dinner
ladies, meals on wheels staff, refuse workers, cleaners and
caretakers there are 280,000 local authority staff paid below a
living wage of £7.45ph (£8.55ph in London). Typical council jobs
which pay £6.30/£6.38ph are home helps, school dinner staff,
teaching assistants, cleaners, grave diggers, admin assistants,
sure-start workers, refuse staff, caretakers, meals on wheels staff,
care workers and school crossing patrols.
GMB will be raising petitions among council workers, meeting with
chief executives and asking councillors to support resolutions to
implement a living wage. 27 councils in England and Wales have
already introduced or are committed to a living wage. These are
Ashfield, Blackpool, Birmingham, Brent, Brighton & Hove, Camden,
Cardiff, Carlisle, Croydon, Dartford, Derby City, Ealing, Enfield,
Hackney, Hounslow, Hyndburn, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham,
Newcastle, Norwich, Oxford City, Preston, Sheffield, Southwark,
Swansea and York. Most councils in Scotland have already introduced
or are committed to a living wage.
Brian Strutton said:- "After years of pay freezes local
government is now the lowest paid of any major sector of the economy
and for 280,000 front line public servants to be paid less than a
living wage is a disgrace.
It is also nonsensical that their pay has to be topped up through
the benefit system when they could have the dignity of being paid
fairly without having to rely on benefit at very little net
additional cost to the public purse. Most, but not all, low paid council staff are women carers, cleaners
and school dinner ladies whose roles have been undervalued for
decades. A number of Councils are already committed to the Living
Wage. It is now high time that every Council did the decent thing
and paid the Living Wage and I hope our GMB campaign will encourage
them to do it."
Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:- "In the
last election we gave a commitment to ask Whitehall departments to
follow the lead of those already paying the living wage, and today
Labour councils across the country are leading the way in committing
to pay a living wage to their staff and subcontracted workers.
The Living Wage goes to the heart of our vision for One Nation. It's
about building an economy where everyone has a stake, not where
millions of people feel they never have a chance for a decent life
however hard they work.
I hope more local authorities and other employers will look at how
the Living Wage can help them achieve their aim to build stronger
communities and better public services."
Rachael Reeves, MP for Leeds West and Shadow Secretary to the
Treasury, said:- "A living wage can provide dignity at work
while reducing families' reliance on public spending or private
debt. Employers have found that, combined with a commitment to
engage and develop their staff, it can make good business sense too.
And for local authorities it can also help to regenerate local
neighbourhoods and stimulate local economies. I am proud that,
despite tough budgetary conditions, Labour councils, working with
trade unions, are finding a way of making this commitment to the
staff who play such a vital role in keeping local services running,
and hope we will see more councils moving in this direction." |
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GMB
WATER WORKERS ACCUSE WATER INDUSTRY MANAGERS AND OFWAT OF
COMPLACENCY
GMB survey reveals an insecure,
under-valued and demoralised workforce which believes that
privatised water companies put cost-cutting and profits above
providing good customer service.
A survey of 9,000 water workers, by GMB the union for water workers,
reveals marked difference in views of water workers employed by the
privatised companies and workers in not-for-profit company Dwr Cymru
Welsh Water and the public company Scottish Water. Workers in these
two companies scored significantly lower in terms of their stress
levels, job insecurity and pensions' concerns and are far less
likely to see cost-cutting and lack of investment as adversely
affecting customer service.
The survey showed Thames Water employees to be the most disgruntled
about their treatment by their employer.
The results of the survey are published as water company executives
gather with the industry regulator, Ofwat, at the Water Industry
Customer Conference today ( 24th Jan) Birmingham (see results in
Notes to Editor below).
Most industry employees believe their companies are cutting corners
and failing to invest enough in providing good customer service. An
overwhelming majority (83%) also think their management are prepared
to sacrifice the employment terms and conditions of hard-pressed
water workers to keep profits high for private investors, many of
whom are based outside of the UK.
Gary Smith, GMB National Secretary said:- "The survey shows
that thousands of water workers feel over-worked, under-valued and
deeply insecure about the future of their jobs and pensions. The
majority believe that water companies put less priority on providing
a high quality customer service than they do on cost-cutting, which
obstructs their efforts as a dedicated workforce that wants to
deliver for consumers.
As these senior executives meet to discuss 'putting the customer
at the heart of the water industry', hard-working GMB members
employed in the industry have a message for them and Ofwat. This is
that 'their complacent attitude towards customer service and the
people whose job it is to deliver it must change'.
Thousands of water workers, with countless years of service between
them, think the industry has never been in worse shape than it is
now. It's clear that most water workers believe that privatisation
has failed consumers.
Ofwat needs to listen more to the views of front-line water workers
and less to those who are in the water industry to make a fast buck
at the expense of consumers and employees. The regulator has
presided over a regime which has seen companies pile the pressure on
water workers, leading to stress and job insecurity amongst those
who are trying to deliver a good service for consumers, whilst
allowing investors to leech vast profits from the supply of a
natural resource which everybody relies on." CCTV APPEAL -
FORMBY BURGLARY SUSPECTS ON TRAIN
MERSEYSIDE Police
Detectives have released CCTV of 2 youths they want to speak to in
relation to a house burglary in Formby. A member of the public saw 2
young men discard a bag close to Formby Train Station which was
found to have stolen property inside. Officers are trying to reunite
the property, believed to have been stolen in a burglary, with their
rightful owners.
They would also like to trace the 2 youths in the
CCTV stills who got onto a train at Formby at around the time of the
incident (8.30pm) on January 2, 2013. Call Marsh Lane CID on:- 0151
777 3833 or Crimestoppers on:- 0800 555 111.
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