Analysis of 2024 NJC Pay Campaign for Council and School Workers
The 2024 NJC Pay Campaign for council and school workers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland involves a demand for a significant pay increase, a minimum hourly rate, and other benefits. Employers have offered a lower increase and rejected additional demands. The worth of the offer compared to the claim is detailed with selected pay points. The background highlights the financial struggles faced by staff and the historical context of stagnant pay in the local government sector.
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2024 NJC Pay Campaign For council and school workers In England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Our 2024-25 NJC pay claim: An increase of 3,000 or 10%* on all pay points *whichever is greater In addition: 15 per hour minimum, no later than 2026 Reviews of equalities pay gaps Two-hour reduction in the working week Additional day of annual leave
What have the employers offered? An increase of 1,290 on all pay points* (That's the full-time equivalent amount; if you're part-time or term time only, you'd get less) In addition, the employers: Rejected our demands for a shorter working week, extra day of leave, 15 an hour minimum rate by 2026 Offered to hold pay gap data discussions Re-committed to reviewing the pay spine *See appendix 1 and 2 for equivalent London/GLPC rates
How does the offer compare with our claim? What we asked for What we ve been offered 3,000 or 10% on all pay points 1,290 on all pay points 15 an hour minimum rate by 2026 No 15 an hour minimum rate by 2026 Reviews of equalities pay gaps Offer of pay gap data discussions Two-hour reduction of working week No shorter working week Additional day of annual leave No extra day of leave
What is the pay offer worth? This table shows the value of the offer measured against our pay claim, using selected pay points (see appendix 2 for London/GLPC examples) Your current pay The employers offer Our claim: 3k or 10% (whichever is greater) What s the gap between claim & offer? 2024 Annual 2024 Hourly Percentage Increase SCP 2023 Annual 2023 Hourly Offer 2 22,366.47 11.59 1,290.00 23,656.47 12.26 5.77% 25,366.47 - 1,710.00 5 23,499.96 12.18 1,290.00 24,789.96 12.85 5.49% 26,499.96 - 1,710.00 10 25,545.14 13.24 1,290.00 26,835.14 13.91 5.05% 28,545.14 - 1,710.00 20 30,295.84 15.70 1,290.00 31,585.84 16.37 4.26% 33,325.42 - 1,739.58 30 38,223.19 19.81 1,290.00 39,513.19 20.48 3.37% 42,045.51 - 2,532.32 43 51,514.79 26.70 1,290.00 52,804.79 27.37 2.50% 56,666.27 - 3,861.48
Background to our claim The cost-of-living crisis is pushing members into debt Staff have lost 25% from the value of their pay since 2010 Local government pay is still among the lowest in the public sector NJC pay did not meet the 12 Foundation Living Wage More than 9 in 10 councils are experiencing recruitment and retention problems A gender pay gap exists in local government - this may extend to other equalities areas (including ethnicity and disability)
The cost-of-living crisis Rapid inflation has pushed up prices faster than wages The impact of this is permanent even if inflation falls The cost of food, travel, rents and mortgages all overtook NJC pay in 2023-24 The cost of living has risen by almost 60% since 2010 while NJC pay has risen by less than half that (27%) The TUC has warned of a debt time bomb for households in 2024 1 in 5 UK households have less than 100 spare each month
What about inflation? Recent NJC pay claims have been linked to the Retail Prices Index (RPI) This year s claim is not but our claim would deliver an increase well above RPI RPI started to fall in March 2023 and is now below the last NJC pay award However, in 13 of the last 14 years, NJC pay awards fell below the annual RPI rate This means that even with RPI falling, NJC pay has still lost a significant amount of value over time NJC Pay Awards Vs Monthly RPI rates over 12 months to Jan 24 (%) 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan RPI NJC
Across the pay spine Staff across the whole pay spine are losing out: 2009/10 Annual 12,489 14,733 15,444 16,440 16,830 26,276 28,636 31,754 30,011 38,961 2022/23 Annual 20,258 20,812 21,189 21,968 21,968 32,020 34,723 38,296 36,298 46,549 Value of pay lost since 2010* -7.4% -14.3% -19.5% -23.7% -23.7% -30.4% -30.8% -31.1% -30.9% -31.8% Occupation Cleaner Customer Services Officer Refuse And Recycling Collector Library Assistant Teaching Assistant (Level 2) Librarian Environmental Health Officer Access to Housing Officer Social Worker Children s Residential Manager *When measured against RPI/the cost of living
What happens next? The NJC pay claim was submitted on 29 Feb 2024 and the employers responded with their pay offer on 16 May 2024 UNISON s NJC committee decided to carry out a consultation of UNISON members, with a recommendation that members vote to reject the offer This recommendation to reject is on the basis that the offer falls significantly short of our claim The consultation opened on Wednesday 5 June and closes on Friday 28 June at midday
The consultation UNISON members working in councils and schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who are covered by NJC pay will be consulted This is a digital consultation - you will not need to send back a paper ballot You ll receive an email with your unique, secure voting link You ll be asked if you wish to accept or reject the pay offer Voting is quick & easy just follow the link on your email
The consultation If you don't receive an email with your unique voting link or we don't hold your email address on record, you can vote at: unison.org.uk/njc2024 You should only vote via this webpage if you haven t received an email with your unique voting link by Monday 10 June To vote on this webpage you ll need either your UNISON membership number or your National Insurance number If you have any problems with voting call UNISON Direct on 0800 0857 857
Get involved in our pay campaign Ask other members to participate in the consultation it s their pay too, so it s important everyone has their say Get colleagues involved if they aren t members already, they can join online at join.unison.org.uk All new members who join by 13 June will have a chance to vote on their pay Use the online resources to promote the campaign: unison.org.uk/lgpay
Get involved in our pay campaign Share our pay calculator which will be available at unison.org.uk/lgpay Share our branded graphics and videos on social media Download or print materials for workplaces, such as leaflets and posters from the UNISON shop Is there a UNISON rep in your workplace? Find out more from your union by becoming a UNISON pay campaign contact The consultation closes midday, Friday 28 June Look out for your email, use your vote, have your say
Appendix 1: London/GLPC pay rates In London, the NJC pay offer translates to an equivalent offer of: 1,491 on Outer London pay points up to and including spine point 48 1,575 on Inner London pay points up to and including spine point 50 Above these pay points an increase of 2.5% will apply
Appendix 2: London/GLPC pay offer examples This table shows the value of the offer measured against our pay claim, using selected GLPC pay points SCP (inner or outer) Our claim: 3k or 10% (whichever is greater) 30,306.00 Your current pay The employers offer What s the gap between claim & offer? 2024 Annual 2024 HourlyPercentage 2023 Annual 2023 Hourly Offer Increase Inner 2 27,306.00 14.15 1,290.00 28,596.00 14.82 4.72% - 1,710.00 Inner 10 30,771.00 15.95 1,290.00 32,061.00 16.62 4.19% 33,848.10 - 1,787.10 Inner 30 41,967.00 21.75 1,290.00 43,257.00 22.42 3.07% 46,163.70 - 2,906.70 Inner 65 81,411.00 42.20 1,290.00 82,701.00 42.87 1.58% 89,552.10 - 6,851.10 Outer 2 25,854.00 13.40 1,290.00 27,144.00 14.07 4.99% 28,854.00 - 1,710.00 Outer 10 29,139.00 15.10 1,290.00 30,429.00 15.77 4.43% 32,139.00 - 1,710.00 Outer 30 40,833.00 21.16 1,290.00 42,123.00 21.83 3.16% 44,916.30 - 2,793.30 Outer 65 80,994.00 41.98 1,290.00 82,284.00 42.65 1.59% 89,093.40 - 6,809.40
