Union leaders have described the latest pay offer of 2.2% from local government employers as ‘a slap in the face'. The Local Government Employers (LGE) made their formal response last week, which was promptly condemned by the unions, which want an increase of 6% or 50p an hour, whichever is the greater. ‘A 2.2% offer is a slap in the face for 1.4m local government workers, who have already put up with 10 years of below-inflation pay settlements,' said Unison's head of local government Heather Wakefield. ‘We can't build world-class public services on poverty pay and it's time that local government employers faced up to this. ‘The employers need to take stock and come up with a more realistic offer in the next round of negotiations,' she added. Cllr Roger Phillips, vice chair of the Employer's Side, said: ‘The key aspect of this offer is to make sure that any pay settlement is affordable to the taxpayer and councils, while at the same time, making sure that local government continues to be an attractive place to work.'
