Build confidence for members to act on pay

#uLGC14 As Local Government members in England and Wales await the outcome of an industrial action ballot on pay, Conference backed a wide ranging campaign to encourage members to take action for fair and decent pay.

Supporting, Renfrewshire’s Brenda Aitchison said, “The Tories talk of recovery and growth but we know that’s nonsense. Millions of people working and non-working struggle to make ends meet. The only growth I see is pay day loan companies, pawn shops, pound shops and foodbanks.”

That is why it was so important for the sectors which are unionised to push even harder for fair pay and show what can be done to give hope to others, added Brenda, calling for support for co-ordinated industrial action.

Earlier Scotland's Dougie Black did a joint presentation with Heather Wakefield (UNISON's Head of Local Government) on pay research which gave a damning picture of how wages had fallen behind for local government workers.

The local government and union leadership pledged their full support and all necessary resources to secure a YEY vote in the ballot with close integration between the leadership and the regions to motivate members to deliver on this and the action which will follow.

Speaking in support of the Emergency Composite, Aberdeenshire’s Kate Ramsden (pictured) said that the challenge for the NJC pay campaign, as with the Scottish consultative ballot, is to build the confidence of all our members to say enough is enough.

“We must help our members to see that we need to act now – that we need to take collective action not just for ourselves but for our lowest paid members and for our service users. “