The UK Government has confirmed a “divide and rule” pay freeze for millions of public-sector workers. This has resulted in intense threats from the UNIONS. Anika Khan reports.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a pay rise for NHS workers next year. However, he did not mention the pay rise for other public-sector workers such as teachers, firefighters, civil servants, council workers, and government staff.
TUC general secretary Frances O’ Grady has described this pay freeze as an insult to all those workers who have kept the wheel turning in Britain during the Pandemic.
Rishi Sunak pointed out that over two million people earned less than £24,000 and promised an increase of £250 from next year. He warned that the COVID crisis will have lasting damage to the UK’s economy.
Assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail described it as an “insulting” amount. Rishi Sunak justified the pay freeze stating the fact that the private sector wages had fallen by 1% in the last six months. On the other hand, there has been a rise in public-sector wages by nearly 4%.
Unions have criticized the government for creating different policies for public and private key workers.
