Pay

UNISON represents members at the bargaining table and mobilises workforces with campaigns to win improvements to members’ pay

Campaigners holding UNISON says Fair pay now posters

What is happening

For more than a decade, surges in the cost of living have been stripping chunks out of the value of pay packets across the UK.

Recent trends in some of UNISON’s largest sectors reflect this wider picture:

Council and school staff have suffered a 25% real-term pay cut in the last 15 years.
In the NHS, pay rises have not been meeting inflation and the banding system has left some not being paid correctly for the work they do. Outsourced staff employed by private NHS contractors receive rates so low that many have no choice but to seek jobs elsewhere.
Police staff pay is not maintaining living standards and a pay gap has emerged between probation staff and most other public sector workers.
School support staff are struggling to meet the cost of essentials, while the demands of the job ramp up ever higher.

While hitting staff across all public services, our lowest paid members in sectors that have been heavily privatised over the years have been at the sharpest end, with catering, cleaning and social care workers among those often experiencing the greatest hardship.

With energy prices looking set to drive a resurgence in the cost of living, the government must respond with public service pay offers and funding that delivers on its promise to improve living standards

Jon Richards

UNISON assistant general secretary

What UNISON is doing

Against a sustained tough economic background of high inflation and tight budgets for public services, UNISON continues to:

Negotiate and campaign to drive improvements in pay and defend against employer attacks.
Press for pay scales that put the Living Wage as the minimum baseline.
Ensure employers adhere to equality proofed pay and grading structures.
Drive banding and job evaluation reviews to prevent employers dumping extra responsibilities on staff without adequate compensation.
Wage campaigns against privatised staff being paid less than the directly employed workforce and a two-tier workforce emerging within contractors.
Prioritise national collective bargaining as the most effective way of reaching beneficial settlements that are carried through to local implementation.

And with the passing of the 2025 Employment Rights Act in Britain, a range of new opportunities will open up for delivering improvements to pay on a large scale, including:

An Adult Social Care Negotiating Body to deliver a Fair Pay Agreement for care workers (in England at first).
A new School Support Staff Negotiating Body (in England at first).
A two-tier workforce code to stop outsourcing driving down pay and terms.