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EnergyCouncil workers' pay 'down 13%'
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The pay of council workers has fallen to 1990s levels following years of below-inflation settlements and wage freezes, according to a new study.Unison said wages had declined by 13% in the last three years alone, with extra cuts to pay and allowances at local level making the situation even worse.
More than a quarter of local government workers now earn less than the so-called Living Wage of £7.20 an hour, forcing many to claim benefits and tax credits, said Unison.
In contrast, the pay of council chief executives increased by 58% between 1998 and 2007, said the report, published ahead of wage talks between local government employers and unions.
Unison's head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "For many local government workers and their families, it's a daily struggle to stay out of poverty. They're doing vital work caring for the elderly, the vulnerable, for young children, and as job cuts hit, they're picking up the pieces doing even more, for ever-diminishing wages.
"Hundreds of thousands - especially women - are being hit hard by the Tory-led coalition's unfair pay policy. This unprecedented squeeze cannot continue. The local government employers must come forward with a decent offer on pay this year."
Peter Kenway, from the New Policy Institute, which wrote the report for Unison, said: "Local government workers are portrayed as part of a pampered public sector. With two-thirds of them in manual or clerical jobs, doing important and sometimes essential jobs, this report shows what a distortion that picture is.
"Since the last time pay went up, in April 2009, prices have risen 13%. Everyone is feeling the pinch but a fall in living standards this big is much more than that."
Around 1.7 million people work in local government in England and Wales, with three out of four jobs done by women and more than half employed part-time.
Unison's head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "For many local government workers and their families, it's a daily struggle to stay out of poverty. They're doing vital work caring for the elderly, the vulnerable, for young children, and as job cuts hit, they're picking up the pieces doing even more, for ever-diminishing wages.
"Hundreds of thousands - especially women - are being hit hard by the Tory-led coalition's unfair pay policy. This unprecedented squeeze cannot continue. The local government employers must come forward with a decent offer on pay this year."
Peter Kenway, from the New Policy Institute, which wrote the report for Unison, said: "Local government workers are portrayed as part of a pampered public sector. With two-thirds of them in manual or clerical jobs, doing important and sometimes essential jobs, this report shows what a distortion that picture is.
"Since the last time pay went up, in April 2009, prices have risen 13%. Everyone is feeling the pinch but a fall in living standards this big is much more than that."
Around 1.7 million people work in local government in England and Wales, with three out of four jobs done by women and more than half employed part-time.
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In contrast, the pay of council chief executives increased by 58% between 1998 and 2007, said the report, published ahead of wage talks between local government employers and unions.
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Unison's head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "For many local government workers and their families, it's a daily struggle to stay out of poverty. They're doing vital work caring for the elderly, the vulnerable, for young children, and as job cuts hit, they're picking up the pieces doing even more, for ever-diminishing wages.
"Hundreds of thousands - especially women - are being hit hard by the Tory-led coalition's unfair pay policy. This unprecedented squeeze cannot continue. The local government employers must come forward with a decent offer on pay this year."
Peter Kenway, from the New Policy Institute, which wrote the report for Unison, said: "Local government workers are portrayed as part of a pampered public sector. With two-thirds of them in manual or clerical jobs, doing important and sometimes essential jobs, this report shows what a distortion that picture is.
"Since the last time pay went up, in April 2009, prices have risen 13%. Everyone is feeling the pinch but a fall in living standards this big is much more than that."
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Around 1.7 million people work in local government in England and Wales, with three out of four jobs done by women and more than half employed part-time.
Unison's head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "For many local government workers and their families, it's a daily struggle to stay out of poverty. They're doing vital work caring for the elderly, the vulnerable, for young children, and as job cuts hit, they're picking up the pieces doing even more, for ever-diminishing wages.
"Hundreds of thousands - especially women - are being hit hard by the Tory-led coalition's unfair pay policy. This unprecedented squeeze cannot continue. The local government employers must come forward with a decent offer on pay this year."
Peter Kenway, from the New Policy Institute, which wrote the report for Unison, said: "Local government workers are portrayed as part of a pampered public sector. With two-thirds of them in manual or clerical jobs, doing important and sometimes essential jobs, this report shows what a distortion that picture is.
"Since the last time pay went up, in April 2009, prices have risen 13%. Everyone is feeling the pinch but a fall in living standards this big is much more than that."
Around 1.7 million people work in local government in England and Wales, with three out of four jobs done by women and more than half employed part-time.
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