Public sector pay 'must be fair'
- 00:01:08
- ITN
Public sector pay 'must be fair'
Union leaders are warning of possible industrial action after Alistair Darling failed to rule out a pay freeze for public sector workers. The Chancellor said wage levels for Government staff, which will be announced within weeks, would have to reflect low levels of inflation and be "fair" to private sector employees already feeling the pinch of the recession. Mr Darling was responding to calls from spending watchdog the Audit Commission for £5 billion to be shaved from the Government's wage bill. "Public sector pay obviously has got to reflect prevailing conditions, and in particular inflation has come way down," he said. "And of course we have got to be fair with regard to people who work in the private sector, many of whom have seen their pay conditions somewhere near freeze." It prompted an angry response from Unison general secretary Dave Prentis, who said: "Low-paid public sector workers, who will be helping communities through the recession, shouldn't be expected to pay." He went on: "At the same time, City bonuses are making a comeback with figures that most workers can't dream of earning in a lifetime. That is wrong." Writing in a Sunday newspaper, Audit Commission chief executive Steve Bundred had suggested workers, including those in the NHS and education, would "tolerate" a freeze as they had "done well" over the last 10 years. He wrote: "At a time when inflation is likely to be between 2 per cent and 3 per cent, a pain-free way of cutting public spending would be to freeze public sector pay or at least impose severe pay restraint." Such a move could provide £5 billion of the £50 billion or more he said would have to be found through tax rises or spending cuts - which he insisted would have to be higher than the ten per cent currently being suggested. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron have been engaged in bitter exchanges over the public finances, with the Tory leader openly accusing the PM of misleading voters over the need for future cuts.
ITN | July 5, 2009
