Robbing Peter to pay Paul, raiding already stretched departmental budgets shows Theresa May is living in a fantasy land. GMB, the union for public sector workers,says today’s announcement the pay cap will be lifted for some public sector workers is nothing but smoke and mirror politics. From Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary – Public Services.
The Government has said prison officers will get a 1.7 percent rise while police will get a 1 percent pay rise plus a one percent bonus unconsolidated for the year. But the money will come from existing departmental budgets – rather than new central government funding – meaning cash strapped public services will be hit even harder. Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary for Public Services, said: “We do not welcome this paltry announcement, which is nothing but smoke and mirror politics that insults our public sector workers.
Make no mistake, our members across the public services are angry after seven years of pay pinching by the government. The idea that robbing Peter to pay Paul, raiding already stretched departmental budgets will solve this problem shows Theresa May is living in a fantasy land, far removed from public opinion.
It’s divisive and wrong to make an announcement that excludes the vital support staff in the police and prison services who are subject to the same pressures as their colleagues. How will police and prison services cope without the extra funding they need? The idea that we have to choose between decent pay for public sector workers and properly funded services is a false choice. Even if this pay rise was awarded to all public sector workers it wouldn’t scratch the surface of years of real terms pay cuts.
Theresa May said she’d listened to the outcome of the election – this proves that she isn’t listening at all. GMB is a democratic trade union, we’ll be led by our members, who are furious – they’ve made it clear that the public sector pay pinch must end now – and we’re determined to stop it. Our fight for decent pay for all public sector workers will not be curtailed.
