{"id":876,"date":"2014-08-20T12:16:58","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T11:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=876"},"modified":"2014-08-20T12:16:58","modified_gmt":"2014-08-20T11:16:58","slug":"public-sector-pay-fight-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=876","title":{"rendered":"Public sector pay fight continues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After an historical strike on July 10 which drew together hundreds of thousands, Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s public sector workers will continue in their fight for fair pay, as they vote \u00e2\u20ac\u0098yes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to escalating their dispute in October to demand a \u00c2\u01411 an hour pay rise.<\/p>\n

 
\nBetween now and October 14, when Unite will join the GMB and Unison in a second 24-hour strike, Unite will take additional targeted action. Throughout September, Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s public sector workers, most of whom work in local government, will take action short of a strike at various local councils.<\/p>\n

 
\nToday (August 20), the three unions will take part in a day of protest, including workplace demonstrations and lunchtime activities.<\/p>\n

 
\nIn an age of austerity that has viciously targeted the most vulnerable, local government workers have suffered most. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen their wages frozen without a single pay rise above inflation since 2009. Employers have this year offered a measly 1 per cent pay rise, while further up the line in government ranks, MPs have rewarded themselves with a hefty 11 per cent rise.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite national officer Fiona Farmer said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLocal government workers are the lowest paid across public sector. It is a disgrace that 400,000 are paid less than the living wage.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe national minimum wage will overtake current local government pay rates in October when it goes up to \u00c2\u01416.50 an hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this is how little these workers are paid,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe \u00c2\u01411 an hour pay rise we are seeking is entirely affordable, especially when you consider that local government workers spend locally: for every \u00c2\u01411 local government workers spend, 52p is reinvested into their local communities.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nDaniel, a Unite member and local government refuse driver, explains why he has joined the fight for fair pay.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got my family to feed. My wife is not in work now, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re struggling on my wage,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Daniel said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re finding it hard to pay the bills. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s making life incredibly stressful. If the government says these cuts are necessary, then why are they getting an 11 per cent pay rise?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nMichael, a council worker, agrees.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re striking for a better and fairer deal for us workers in the public sector. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re only asking for a pound an hour,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Michael said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve offered us 1 per cent, a pound an hour works out to 8 per cent. Over the years, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lost 18 per cent, so we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re really not asking for much at all.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nUnions across the country and around the world have joined Unite in the clarion call for fair public sector pay.
\nIn a message of solidarity, the Czech Firefighters Union urged Unite and members of the two other striking unions to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsend a message to employers that you cannot go on accepting poverty pay.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After an historical strike on July 10 which drew together hundreds of thousands, Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s public sector workers will continue in their fight for fair pay, as they vote \u00e2\u20ac\u0098yes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to escalating their dispute in October to demand a \u00c2\u01411 an hour pay rise.   Between now and October 14, when Unite will join the GMB […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=876"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876\/revisions\/878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}