6 May 2014 Police Staff Pay Bulletin No. 2
PAY CLAIM SUBMITTED
The three police staff trade unions have submitted the following 2014 pay claim to the police employers, on your behalf:
· A 3%, or £500, increase, whichever is the greater, on all pay points with effect from 1 September 2014
· A 3% increase in Standby Allowance from 1 September 2014
The claim will be negotiated at the Police Staff Council (PSC), which is the national collective bargaining body which decides your pay and conditions. A copy of the full claim is available from your UNISON branch.
VALUE OF YOUR SALARY DOWN 13% ON 2010
Police staff have been very badly treated by the Government when it comes to pay. The Coalition Government’s pay freeze for public sector workers means that most police staff have only had a 1% pay rise in the last three years.
This means that the purchasing power of your salary has fallen by a shocking 13% since 2010. The table at the end of this bulletin shows just how far police staff salaries have fallen against inflation over the last three years. It is no wonder that police staff are finding it so hard to make ends meet.
The public sector pay freeze is set to continue into the future, and if pay rates for police staff do not improve, the purchasing power of your salary will just continue to slide. This simply cannot go on forever.
TIME TO TAKE A STAND
The Government is not going to end the pay freeze on public sector workers voluntarily. The Government is relying on you to stay quiet and put up with the continual erosion of the value of your salary. But, UNISON believes that it is time to take a stand. Our ‘Worth It’ campaign on pay covers all our members, and aims to raise the temperature over public sector pay in this important pre-election year.
UNISON members working for local government and the health service are going to be balloted for industrial action over pay in 2014, following totally inadequate pay offers in both these sectors. Police staff may find themselves in a very similar position if, as has been hinted, police staff are offered only a 1% pay increase again this year.
The police staff pay rise is due later in the year, on 1 September, but we have submitted our claim early in order to give ourselves enough time to build a campaign around police staff pay for 2014. We will need members to get involved and to play their part in this.
UNISON PAY MEETING
UNISON has called all its police staff branches from England and Wales together for a national meeting on pay on Friday 16 May. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss our pay claim and our negotiating and campaigning strategy on pay for 2014.
LOOK HOW THE VALUE OF YOUR SALARY HAS DECLINED
The following table shows just how far police staff salaries have drifted from the rise in the cost of living. UNISON has taken a sample of police staff pay points and calculated what the 2010 pay rates would have needed to rise by, in order to keep pace with inflation. The figures will help you to assess how much the purchasing power of your own salary has declined since 2010.
POLICE STAFF (pay point 4)Year / Historic Annual RPI (%) / Pay award (%) / Cumulative deterioration in value of pay / Actual salary / Salary if in line with inflation
2009 / £14,163
2010 / 4.6 / 2.58 / 2.02 / £14,529 / £14,814
2011 / 5.2 / 0 / 7.3 / £14,529 / £15,584
2012 / 3.2 / 1.72 / 8.9 / £14,779 / £16,082
2013 / 3 / 1 / 11.1 / £14,928 / £16,564
POLICE STAFF (pay point 10)
Year / Historic Annual RPI (%) / Pay award (%) / Cumulative deterioration in value of pay / Actual salary / Salary if in line with inflation
2009 / £16,512
2010 / 4.6 / 2.58 / 2.02 / £16,938 / £17,272
2011 / 5.2 / 0 / 7.3 / £16,938 / £18,170
2012 / 3.2 / 1.48 / 9.2 / £17,188 / £18,751
2013 / 3 / 1 / 11.4 / £17,361 / £19,313
POLICE STAFF (pay point 18)
Year / Historic Annual RPI (%) / Pay award (%) / Cumulative deterioration in value of pay / Actual salary / Salary if in line with inflation
2009 / £20,568
2010 / 4.6 / 2.58 / 2.02 / £21,099 / £21,514
2011 / 5.2 / 0 / 7.3 / £21,099 / £22,633
2012 / 3.2 / 0 / 10.8 / £21,099 / £23,357
2013 / 3 / 1 / 13.0 / £21,309 / £24,057
POLICE STAFF (pay point 25)
Year / Historic Annual RPI (%) / Pay award (%) / Cumulative deterioration in value of pay / Actual salary / Salary if in line with inflation
2009 / £25,731
2010 / 4.6 / 2.58 / 2.02 / £26,394 / £26,915
2011 / 5.2 / 0 / 7.3 / £26,394 / £28,315
2012 / 3.2 / 0 / 10.8 / £26,394 / £29,221
2013 / 3 / 1 / 13.0 / £26,658 / £30,156
POLICE STAFF (pay point 35)
Year / Historic Annual RPI (%) / Pay award (%) / Cumulative deterioration in value of pay / Actual salary / Salary if in line with inflation
2009 / £34,194 / £34,194
2010 / 4.6 / 2.58 / 2.02 / £35,076 / £35,766
2011 / 5.2 / 0 / 7.3 / £35,076 / £37,626
2012 / 3.2 / 0 / 10.8 / £35,076 / £38,830
2013 / 3 / 1 / 13.0 / £35,427 / £39,995
JOIN UNISON
UNISON is gearing up for a big campaign on pay this year across the union. Public sector workers are fed up with being taken for granted. Their loyalty and commitment are being sorely tested by the Government’s public sector pay policy of pay rises of only 1% for yet another year.
So, if you are finding it hard to make ends meet and agree that enough is enough, now is the time to join UNISON.
By joining UNISON you can make your voice heard on pay.
Together we can make a difference.