Unite: Local public sector pay bargaining: a blueprint for privatisation
Unite, Britain's biggest union, has branded Chancellor, George Osborne's plans to introduce local public sector pay bargaining as a "blueprint for privatisation".
At the Treasury Select committee today, (Wednesday, 7 December) the Chancellor, George Osborne has said that local public sector pay bargaining should be introduced in 2013-14.
Gail Cartmail, Unite's assistant general secretary, said:
"Employing public servants on the lowest possible pay is part of the Tory blueprint for privatisation. George Osborne wants to drive down pay to clear the way for private companies to take over our public services. There is absolutely no justification for a nurse in Newcastle being paid less than an equally qualified nurse in Oxford.
"This is another attack on income that will have a massive impact on women who are the majority of the public sector workforce. It will also worsen the UK's persistent gender pay gap and push working people into tax credit and other benefits.
"The people of this country are overwhelmingly opposed to the privatisation of our public services, yet the Tories, who failed to get a majority in the last election, are doing everything possible to make the public sector ripe for profiteers. The unions will fight tooth-and-nail to oppose any attempts to fragment the national pay structure in the public sector."
ENDS
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315.
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