Welsh public supports strike action for key workers to gain higher pay rise
Welsh people want key workers to receive a higher pay rise and they would back the workers taking strike action, new survey analysis has found.
A poll of 1,009 people, commissioned by the public services union, UNISON Cymru Wales, found the majority of people said that after ten years of pay freezes and caps, key workers deserve a pay rise.
It comes as thousands of healthcare workers, school support staff and council workers are campaigning to secure a "fair pay rise".
A 3% pay rise for NHS staff was agreed by the Welsh Government during the summer which was described by some unions as "bitterly disappointing".
The First Minister said he agreed that NHS staff should be paid more for their efforts but has defended his government’s decision to offer a 3% pay rise to NHS workers.
UNISON has begun to ballot more than a third of a million council and school staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for strike action over their “inadequate” pay offer.
The union says these workers have kept services running in local communities throughout the difficult months of the pandemic and deserve a "decent rise".
Most staff have been offered 1.75% by local government employers. As the rate of inflation currently stands at 4.2% (consumer price index), this amounts to a significant pay cut, says the union.
Healthcare workers, school staff and council workers belonging to UNISON are currently voting on how they want to oppose below-inflation pay offers. The union says strike action is a real possibility.
Karen Loughlin, Wales regional secretary of UNISON Cymru, says the union wants politicians in the Senedd and Westminster to reflect on these polling results and recognise they have dropped the ball.
She said: “You don’t reward key workers – the backbone of the nation throughout Covid, with derisory pay offers. You invest in them.
“There’s one message public service workers repeat: ‘clapping doesn’t pay the bills’ and they are so angry they are considering whether to take strike action, many for the first time in their lives.
“Public service workers are the glue keeping Welsh communities together. UNISON’s plea to our political leaders is, come back to the negotiating table with a fair pay offer.”
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