It’s been a year like no other for people at work and many feel they deserve a pay rise after adapting for their employers to the changes forced by Covid.
After years of what some sectors say are below inflation increases, effectively a cut, there is anger among public sector staff, many of whom have taken vital roles responding to the pandemic.
Most workers, whether in the private or public sector, have been called on to adapt at very short notice thanks to Covid. Many have been furloughed or lost their jobs.
Read more:The highest paid council officials in Wales
People are, or have been, working from home, often in less than ideal conditions as well as juggling that with home teaching children.
Everyone is living and working in very different circumstances. Those in public facing jobs have had to put themselves at personal risk because that is what their roles demand. Many have had to wear PPE, sometimes in very uncomfortable conditions.
Early fears that the economy would be wrecked and businesses ruined have not proved to be the case across the board, although many sectors such as travel and hospitality have suffered massively.
In response to this unions have been pressing for pay rises for workers who, they say, have worked harder than ever to respond to changes forced by the pandemic.
Inflation is currently running at 3.9% RPI.
So, what chance is there of pay rises for people in the private and public sector after the biggest crisis to hit Britain since the Second World War?
We take a look at the offers and claims in the public and private sector:
Police in England and Wales
(Image: PA Images)
Pay freeze but £250 for those on less than £24,000.
In an announcement on July 27 employers – the National Police Chiefs Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners – told police staff to expect a 0% pay increase.
The Whitehall Government has defended its decision not to offer an across-the-board pay rise to police officers this year because of economic “difficulties” caused by the pandemic.
Policing minister Kit Malthouse pledged that the Government would do “other things” to make police officers feel “valued and supported”.
“It has been tough this year. I hope we can return to some kind of normality in the future, but our economy is in some difficulties. Obviously the private sector has taken a big hit and it is the private sector that pays for the public sector, and we have to balance all those things.”
Unison national officer for police Ben Priestley said: “Police staff salaries have lost nearly a third of their buying power in the past 10 years.
“This attempt by the employers to impose a pay freeze, leaving them even worse off, is a disgrace.
“Staff have worked tirelessly to keep their communities safe during the pandemic. They deserve better and employers must improve the offer.”
Unite national officer Jim Kennedy described it as “an absolute kick in the teeth for police staff.”
He said police staff are “stunned and angry” after going “beyond the call of duty in the last 18 months to ensure that services were maintained and the public were kept safe in the most difficult and stressful circumstances.”
GMB national officer for police staff, said: “This response to our reasonable and moderate pay claim for police staff will be rightly viewed as an insult by the thousands of them who have put their lives on the line during the past 16 months to keep the country safe.
“The home secretary heaps praise on them, then offers them a pay cut. It’s rank hypocrisy. We will be meeting shortly to consider next steps.”
Teachers
(Image: PA)
The Teacher Pay Review Body has recommended a 1.75% rise in Wales which Education Minister Jeremy Miles has said he is minded to accept. They’ll get that from September, if agreed. But the rise will not be funded and the cash will have to be found from school budgets. Critics and some school leaders say this will lead to job losses and have called on the government to fund the rise,
Pay for teachers in England has been frozen and will not rise.
Council staff in Wales, England and Northern Ireland
(Image: PA)
The unions submitted a pay claim for 2021 of 10 per cent but have been offered 1.75%.
The offer to council workers, including firefighters, school support staff, carers, refuse and highway maintenance workers, cleaners and librarians was raised by 0.25 per cent to 1.75 per cent after negotiations. Unions say that’s still significantly below the rate of inflation.
Unison Cymru Wales, labelled the pay offer a real terms pay cut.
It says years of pay freezes and pay caps driven by Westminster have left local government staff more than 20 per cent poorer than in 2010.
Rates of pay and employment conditions of council workers are negotiated at a UK national level (excluding Scotland).
Unison says council employers have told the union they don’t have the money to give their workforce the pay rise they deserve or to invest in rebuilding vital public services.
The union wants the employers’ body, the Welsh Local Government Association, to join trades unions to campaign for additional funds from the UK government to finance the wage rise.
Lianne Dallimore, chair of Unison Cymru Wales local government committee, said :“Local government staff have kept vital services like adult social care, school hubs and refuse collection going throughout the pandemic. We deserve more.
“Welsh council employers told us they want to recognise our contribution but don’t have the money, well, work with us to secure extra cash from Westminster which can be invested in staff and front-line services.”
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NHS staff
(Image: Matthew Horwood)
Welsh NHS staff are getting a 3% pay rise back dated to April 2021 after their “extraordinary efforts” over the course of the pandemic, the Welsh Government announced last week.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan agreed to the rise after accepting recommendations from the NHS Pay Review Body.
But the pay offer, which was matched in England, has been heavily criticised by some groups. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union called the decision “bitterly disappointing”.
“This pay rise recognises the dedication and commitment of hardworking NHS staff and the enormous contribution they have made,” the health minister said.
“It is also a recognition of how valued they are by Welsh communities.
“For our lowest paid staff, this means we have gone above the Living Wage recommendation of £9.50 an hour, demonstrating our commitment to NHS Wales being a Living Wage employer.”
The RCN has criticised the Welsh Government for failing to address what it says are years of under investment in the nursing workforce.
Helen Whyley, RCN Wales’ Director, said: “The 3% award is a long way off the 12.5% claim of the Royal College of Nursing, which would bring nurses in line with other professions and redress the fact that their wages have reduced over the last 10 years.
“It also does not recognise the commitment of nursing staff throughout the pandemic.
“It is our belief that there has never been a time when the need for an urgent and significant pay rise for NHS staff has been so great. A belief shared by so many people across Wales.”
Less people are on the pay roll than before the pandemic
(Image: PA)
UK Government earnings and employment data shows that in March 2021 the number of payrolled employees fell by 2.8% compared with March 2020, a drop of 813,000 employees. Most of those off the pay roll were aged under 25.
In March 2021, 56,000 fewer people were in payrolled employment when compared with February 2021.
But early estimates for March 2021 indicate that median monthly pay increased by 5.4%, compared with the same period of the previous year.
The increase in payrolled employees between March 2020 and March 2021 was largest in the health and social work sector (a rise of 110,000 employees) and smallest in the accommodation and food services sector (a fall of 355,000).
MPs
Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons
MPs’ pay will be frozen in 2021/22 as the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) said an increase “would not reflect the reality” faced by many voters after the coronavirus crisis.
IPSA had recommended a significant pay rise worth an estimated £3,300 late last year, but numerous MPs spoke out against the move as they said it would be inappropriate in the current climate.
Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer both voiced their opposition to any increase while 50 Tory MPs signed a letter calling for a rethink.
What about the private sector?
Depending on which report you read private companies are either expecting to offer modest wage increases, or none.
The 28% pay rise and other big winners
Chief executives of FTSE 100 companies are paid a median average of £3.6m a year or 115 times the average £31,461 collected by full-time UK workers, according to research by the High Pay Centre thinktank.
On an hourly basis the bosses will have earned more by 5.30pm on Wednesday January 6 than the average worker will in the whole of 2021.
In April, it was reported that the boss of gambling firm Bet365 Denise Coates earned £469m in 2020, thought to be one of the biggest packages in UK corporate history.
She founded the online gambling company in the early 2000s in Stoke-on-Trent after spotting the potential of internet betting to revolutionise the industry.
The company told the BBC the arrangements were “appropriate and fair”
Lord Simon Wolfson, the boss of the Next fashion and homewares chain, had a 28% pay increase last year to almost £3.4m despite forgoing his annual bonus and taking a cut in basic salary, it has been reported.
Next said it did not feel paying out an annual cash bonus, which amounted to £350,000 for Wolfson the year before, was appropriate given that the company had not paid dividends to shareholders. Wolfson and other directors and top managers in the business also took a 20% cut in basic pay between April and June when many workers were on furlough.
However, the retailer’s non-executive directors did sanction a total of £2.4m in long-term share bonus payments to Wolfson relating to the three years to July 2020 and to January 2021.
That came after the company claimed £120m in a business rates holiday and millions in furlough payments for thousands of staff from the government while shops were closed.
The board said they had decided to make the full long-term bonus payments due as “financial data shows Next is performing well in exceptionally challenging circumstances. ”
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