Largest UK civil service union calls for Labour to end austerity
The leader of the UK’s largest civil service union has warned against the Labour government promising “tough choices” that “heap misery” on working class people.
Fran Heathcote, general secretary of the 190,000-strong Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union challenged the Government to end austerity across the public sector.
When Labour took office at the beginning of July, they quickly established a 22% pay rise for junior doctors, which brought two years of strike action to a close.
They also committed to a 5-6% increase in pay for all public sector workers over the rest of the year.
Speaking at the Trade Union Conference in Brighton, Ms Heathcote said: “The above-inflation pay deals agreed this year are welcome, but do not go far enough. We need pay restoration in our public services.
“If this Government wants the highest sustained growth in the G7, let me tell them they won’t get it without sustained growth in workers’ wages.”
Reasoning
Ms Heathcote acknowledged that this action could take years, but said: “It would be good for recruitment and retention, good for the quality of our public services, and good for the economy too.”
She also pointed to academic research commissioned by the PCS earlier this year into the economic effect of increasing civil service pay, and claimed the results showed that boosting civil service wages “more than paid for itself” through the benefit to wider society.
Ms Heathcote finished by saying: “Every single person in this room, every single member of a trade union and every single person in this country relies on well-functioning public services – and our members who deliver them every day of the year.
“And Congress, we all know the damage that austerity has done to those public services and to the pay and living standards of our members.”
“So we expect this Labour government to end austerity in our public services and in the pay packets of our members.”
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