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Town halls have dismissed the 2.5% pay demand made by trade unions this week as unaffordable, claiming even a Unison commentary on the proposal showed staff were more concerned about saving jobs while the economy faltered. The three major local government unions – Unison, the GMB and Unite – lodged their 2010/11 pay claim on 26 October, demanding an average increase equivalent to £500 or 2.5%, whichever is greater. The unions' claim would mean a 4.3% increase for those on the lowest pay scale (£12,145) and an overall 2.8% increase on the sector's pay bill. It has been lodged just months after staff settled on an average 1% rise this year, a deal which followed a bitter row between council leaders and staff over what was affordable to the sector while council revenues had declined during the recession. Officially, Smith Square said it must consult councils over the 2010/11 claim and would not comment on the detail. But privately, senior sources said a 2.5% demand was ‘simply unaffordable', and likely to be ‘heavily opposed' by the Local Government Employers. Some sources pointed to a Unison news bulletin detailing the pay claim, which stated that some union branches ‘highlighted member concerns around job security and the level at which the claim is set'. It continued: ‘We will have a challenging job to persuade members that they don't deserve a pay rise – many seem to have accepted the financial situation as necessitating job cuts and reduction in services, without contemplating the political nature of the choices being made.' But the unions' senior personnel are adamant that their claim is affordable – particularly as their members settled for a lower deal this year than local authorities had budgeted for. Heather Wakefield, Unison's head of local government, said: ‘The 2.5% claim is modest, and takes account of the tough economic climate and the predicted inflation rate for next year.' And Brian Strutton, GMB national secretary, said ‘this level of increase can be sustained'. But one senior local government source warned employers ‘could delay the next pay settlement [due to be introduced by April] until beyond next year's general election – when a potential Conservative Government would view sympathetically councils' call for pay restraint'.

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WHITEHALL

'Unaffordable' pay demand dismissed

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