school support staff and local government workers covered by NJC pay.
The Labour governments announcement that teachers, NHS workers, police and the armed forces are to receive pay awards above inflation is a welcome first step in addressing the real terms reductions in pay across the public sector under 14 years of Tory rule.
Pay awards for all workers across the UK currently average 6%.
However, the current 2024/25 NJC pay offer once again falls short of what is being offered elsewhere. The Joint NJC trade unions (UNISON, GMB and Unite) have written to the NJC employers to offer more.
See Joint union letter 1 aug 2024
The offer as it stands will not address the recruitment and retention issues affecting many job roles.
Meanwhile, UNISON is preparing to ballot all members after an 80% vote to reject the NJC offer of £1,290 on all pay points (for full time workers) and 2.5% from pay point 43.
Look out for your ballot paper at home from 4th September.
Use your vote and post it back to try and secure a better pay deal.
To check what the pay offer means in % terms for you see NJC-2024-25-pay-offer-by-Sandwell-Grades-1.pdf (sandwellunison.co.uk)