WATCH Labour refuses to back real terms pay increase for public sector workers
3 min read
Labour cannot say whether it would give public sector workers a real terms pay rise until it has “seen the books,” according to a shadow minister.
Labour's Dawn Butler criticised the Government for failing to give workers a real terms rise after they announced the phasing out of the cap which limits public sector pay increases to 1%.
Number 10 lifted the ceiling to give police and prison officers a raise of 1.7% and 2% respectively, but the move was slammed by trade unions and opposition MPs who pointed out that with inflation running at almost 3% it was still an effective pay cut.
The Shadow Women and Equalities Minister reiterated the criticism today, telling Sky’s Niall Paterson: “It’s not actually a pay rise in terms of it’s less than inflation, so 1.75% is less than 2.9% inflation. So, essentially it’s still a cut and for seven years they have not had a pay rise...
"We need to make sure that we keep their spirits up because they are keeping us safe, and that is the most important thing that we have to do, not just say that we appreciate them but our actions need to reflect that as well.”
But while Ms Butler said Labour would find an extra £4bn to spend on public sector pay, she stopped short of committing to a real terms increase for workers.
She continued: “We are not talking about an above-inflation pay rise."
“What they [the Government] could do is they could give public sector workers an inflation pay rise, that is what they could do now if they had the political will to do it and they are choosing not to do it and that is the issue here.
“£4bn is enough to make sure that public sector workers - and remember as I keep reiterating, we are a government in waiting, we are not the government.
“When we’ve got the books in front of us we will then be able to then decipher what else we would be able to deliver for public sector workers but we need to see the figures and the books.”
Clarifying Labour’s position, a spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn said: “Labour will end the public sector pay cap for all public sector workers."
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