London Council and School Workers NJC Pay 2024 Comparison

Balloting for action NJC Pay 2024 For council and school workers in London

Our 2024-25 NJC pay claim for London: An increase of 3,000 or 10%* on all pay points *whichever is greater - in London, the 3,000 would be higher due to London weighting 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 *Inner London would already reach 15.23 based on the offer

2024-25 NJC pay offer for London: 1,290 on all NJC pay points (nationally) In London this translates to an equivalent increase of: 1,491 on Outer London pay points up to SCP 48 1,575 on Inner London pay points up to SCP 50 A 2.5% increase for pay points above these

How does the employers offer compare with our claim? What we asked for What we ve been offered 3,000 or 10% on all pay points 1,491 (Outer London) up to SCP 48 1,575 (Inner London) up to SCP 50 15 an hour minimum rate by 2026 No 15 an hour minimum rate by 2026 (on national rates - Inner London would reach 15.23 based on the offer) 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 GLPC pay points Your current pay The employers offer Our How much are you losing? claim: 3k or 10% SCP (inner or outer) 2023 Annual 2024 Annual 2024 HourlyPercentage 2023 Hourly Offer Increase 1,290.00 28,596.00 1,290.00 32,061.00 1,290.00 43,257.00 1,290.00 82,701.00 1,290.00 27,144.00 1,290.00 30,429.00 1,290.00 42,123.00 1,290.00 82,284.00 15.23 17.08 23.04 44.06 14.46 16.21 22.44 43.83 4.72% 4.19% 3.07% 1.58% 0.05 0.04 0.03 0.02 30,306.00 33,848.10 46,163.70 89,552.10 28,854.00 32,139.00 44,916.30 89,093.40 1,710.00 1,787.10 2,906.70 6,851.10 1,710.00 1,710.00 2,793.30 6,809.40 Inner 2 Inner 10 Inner 30 Inner 65 Outer 2 Outer 10 Outer 30 Outer 65 27,306.00 30,771.00 41,967.00 81,411.00 25,854.00 29,139.00 40,833.00 80,994.00 14.55 16.39 22.36 43.37 13.77 15.52 21.75 43.15

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 Pay has not kept up with the foundation living wage outside of London ( 12 per hour nationally and 13.15 in London) 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 areas (including ethnicity and disability)

The cost-of-living crisis Rapid inflation pushed up prices faster than wages The impact of this is permanent even while 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 in 2024 1 in 5 UK households have less than 100 spare each month

Across the pay spine Staff across the whole pay spine are losing out: 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

Pay timescale 2024 The NJC pay claim was submitted on 29 Feb 2024 The employers responded with their offer on 16 May UNISON s NJC committee held a digital consultation of members in June/early July Members voted overwhelming to reject the offer In July, UNISON s NJC committee decided to ballot members asking you to take industrial action (strike action) over pay The ballot is taking place in September and October

The Ballot Most council and school workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland* will be balloted The ballot will ask one question: Do you wish to take strike action over pay? (Yes/No) By law, we need a turnout of at least 50%, otherwise no action can take place This is a disaggregated ballot so a 50% threshold is needed in each employer to take strike action in that employer. *In Northern Ireland council workers are being balloted alongside council and school workers in England and Wales. School support staff in Northern Ireland will be balloted on a later timetable. The ballot threshold does not apply in Northern Ireland.

The ballot: Dates The ballot opens on 4 September and papers will be posted out from that day Look out for your purple envelope which contains your ballot paper and remember to post it back as soon as possible Your completed ballot must be returned by post (a freepost envelope is provided) and received by 16 October 2024 If you haven't received your ballot paper by 17 September you can request a replacement

The ballot hotline The UNISON ballot hotline is open from Tuesday 17 September and closes at midday on 9 October Call the hotline on 0800 0 857 857 if you haven't received your ballot paper by 17 September You can also request a replacement paper by logging onto MyUNISON: unison.org.uk/my-unison

Join the pay ballot campaign Get colleagues involved if they aren t already in UNISON, they can join online (it takes five minutes) and then they'll get a vote: join.unison.org.uk New members joining by 3 October will get a vote Talk to friends and colleagues - use the online resources to promote the campaign: unison.org.uk/lgpay Share our branded graphics and videos on social media Download or print materials for workplaces, such as leaflets and posters at unison.org.uk/lgpay

Join the pay ballot campaign Do you have a UNISON contact or rep in your workplace? If not, now is a great time to become a UNISON contact point. Ask your branch about becoming a pay campaign contact (RMS code 109). This means you'll be kept up to date on the pay campaign and can keep your colleagues informed about the latest news.

Keep the campaign going: Check out UNISON's online pay calculator. You can use this to see what your salary would be if the claim has been met in full. You can share this on your social media and show your colleagues. You can email your councillors to ask them to support better pay for their staff. And finally, email your MP calling for better funding for local government for wages and services All of these are on the website: unison.org.uk/lgpay in the "Supporting better pay" box

Having your say is important The most important thing is to make sure that each and every member in the ballot uses their vote. Make sure you and all the members who you work with post their vote back in the freepost envelop to arrive by 16 October. To be sure your vote is counted post it back today! Remember, you can contact UNISON's ballot hotline if you haven't got your ballot pack.

What happens next? The ballot closes on 16 October. When the results are all received UNISON's NJC committee will meet to consider the outcome. Branches will be kept informed. In the meantime keep working to build the campaign and get the vote out. Check in at: unison.org.uk/lgpay Any questions: contact your branch or njcpay2024@unison.co.uk