Trafford council is backing a pay claim on a par with inflation for its workers. The authority has resolved to support a pay claim submitted by Unison, GMB and Unite on behalf of council and school workers for an increase of £2,000 or the current retail price index (RPI) rate, whichever is greater.
Councillors are also supporting a bid for a 35-hour working week with no reduction in pay by the three unions' negotiating body, the National Joint Council (NJC). Proposing the motion of support, Councillor Tom Ross declared himself to be a Unison member.
"We are now in the 14th year of a pay crisis which has intensified over the last year as a result of a spike in the rate of inflation," he said. "Workers across the country are now being asked to bear the brunt of global price rises, particularly on energy and food having already borne the hardship as a result of the pandemic and the longest pay squeeze since the Napoleonic wars."
