What do you think of unions' claim for a £3,000 pay rise for council staff?
- It is the least we/they deserve to compensate for years of pay cuts (63%, 1,161 Votes)
- It would be good in an ideal world but is unrealistic (19%, 356 Votes)
- It is a recipe for protracted pay talks that will achieve little (18%, 322 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,839
Loading ...Unions have lodged their pay claim for local government and school support staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2025-26.
UNISON, the GMB and Unite have called for a £3,000 rise for all staff, on the grounds that council workers are “overdue” a significant increase in salary, having “missed out” on more generous settlements given to other public sector workers last year.
In 2024-25, council staff were given an increase of £1,290 or 2.5%, whichever was higher, with slightly higher amounts given to those working in the capital to cover London weighting.
Less generous pay deal for council staff
This was worth 3-4% for most social workers, significantly less than the 5.5% received by their counterparts in the NHS and also below the 4.43% settlement for practitioners working for Cafcass.
Besides the headline increase, the unions’ claim also includes establishing a £15 an hour minimum wage for the sector, compared with £12.26 currently, increasing annual leave by one day and cutting the working week by two hours.
“Services provided by council and school workers are vital for communities to thrive,” said UNISON’s head of local government, Mike Short. “But wages have remained low, and without decent pay, staff feel undervalued and are looking for better-paid work elsewhere. A proper pay offer is essential.”
‘Low pay, cuts and workload increases’
GMB national officer Sharon Wilde said its members were experiencing “low pay, funding cuts and increasing workloads”, while Unite counterpart Clare Keogh said local government employers needed to “recognise that there is growing anger among workers, especially the lowest paid, about the way they are treated year after year”.
Pay negotiations are conducted through the National Joint Council for Local Government Services, which includes representation from the unions and employers, and whose decisions cover most, but not all councils, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Employer leaders will consult councils will on the unions’ 2025 pay claims at online regional pay briefings during February and March, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.
Offer likely to be far below claim
Employers will then make an offer to staff. This will likely be far below the unions’ claim, in the context of the significant pressures facing councils in 2025-26, including those arising from the government’s increase in national insurance contributions for employers.
Meanwhile, the government has budgeted for pay increases of 2.8% across the NHS and other parts of the public sector, with these now being considered by independent pay review bodies.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 
Hampshire County Council 
Oxfordshire County Council 
South Gloucestershire Council 
Wokingham Borough Council 
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Won’t happenzl best case we get what we got last year…union is largely ineffective comparable to other unions, it’s the same circus year in and year out to come out with exactly what was offered in the April.
Sadly you are 100% correct. We are such doormats.
The unions are there to negotiate on our behalf you never get what you ask for that is what negotiation is about you both have a starting point and you meet somewhere usually in the middle.
The unions are only as good as its members and if we don’t vote for strike action then their hands are tied and they have less power to negotiate.
We would have even worse conditions and pay if wasn’t for the unions they pay a very important role don’t underestimate that.
Thankyou for mansplaining what a union is to me. I’m perfectly aware of what a union is and what powers they do or do not have. The current set up of 3 unions is counter productive to the negotiating position of us, they can’t agree and by the time they ballot people half the year has passed. I have voted to strike every single time, but the process drags on so long it plays into the hands of the employer. And the reality is, the public care less about us and local government than darlings such as the NHS.
Again the long wait begins … takes far too long and then we are made to feel special when it comes in at Christmas. Jist accept it and move on to next years . The lay rise doesn’t make my job easier but hey ho it takes some life pressure off.
Well we are facing massive cost cuts and VR so can we just get something for April please
Useless unions always the same runaround with the njc. They know theres plenty of half wits who’ll take anything they can get and see it as a “pay rise”.
Good to hear the passive voice of social work in the annual despair tones again. Gentle reminder, if you are a union member the union is you. If you are “too buddy” to be active than you have nothing to say about ineffective unions. If we are doormats it’s because we choose to be. If you are not in a union you do not have the privilege to comment on this. Your energy is better spent negotiating your own pay with your employer. Oh hang on you can’t. Double silence it is then.
You’re absolutley right! I do hope more of us decide to vote (if it comes to that) on the pay award and move towards industrial action.
I am a social worker that went on strike some years ago over pay. Sadly most of my team did not strike and did not want to lose a day’s pay. It was frustrating but as a result I would be reluctant to take action again because there is not a collective will for it. There is now a minority in my team even in a union.
Why has it took 3 months to put last year’s claim in, no lessons have been learned from the last few years. The unions are in the pockets of the bill payers. We all know why the claim is dragged out deliberately every year.
I for one don’t know why the claim might be deliberately dragged on so those who do know could they please inform us of the specifics.
Hi Anita
This is quite straightforward. The money saved by not paying the deal till November/December is astronomical across the entire country. The savings invested by Local Authorities result in a return that either pays for or at least severely mitigates the cost of the settlement. It happens every year! A cynic might think this was a cooked up plan between the Unions and the LGA. I am a cynic!
Ah, so it’s £1,290 then, backdated and payable in November 2025 while the unions play games pretending they’re still relevant.
If the union isn’t relevant why will.you be accepting the offer negotiated by it? Those of you who know better stand fir union positions and negotiate more competently. Sniping from the margins or putting the effort in sorts out the grippers from the grafters. Take the money but moan endlessly is one definition of selfish laziness.
The negotiation hasn’t been successful for the previous two pay rounds and before. As usual, pointless ballots will be sent out at significant cost to the members and all for the initial offer that was put forward by the employers to be accepted. Meanwhile, the value of the pay rise has reduced in value in the several months since it was offered due to inflation.
Any union member can challenge union officials and if they don’t want to individually can mandate their shop steward to do so on their behalf. That of course requires actually putting in a bit of an effort to be involved and active. Not an attribute most social workers seem to possess. Speaking as a shop steward so there we are.
If social workers can’t be bothered to vote on the ballot then of course union negotiators are going to be hamstring. Give them a strong mandate and if they fail on that the legitimately criticise them. I work with a group of cynical social workers most of who can’t even be bothered to open their ballots. Moaning from the sidelines is the disease that is rotting social work and not just on this issue.
What have the unions ever done for us boo hoo howlers too happy to pocket the cash and the employment conditions win fir them of course. Social worker narcissism laid bare.
I do believe in the power a Union can potentially have, but it seems this is a game UNISON has been playing for a long time with no strategy or plan to get what they ask. Maybe there is also a lack of leadership to manage negotiations.
One of my colleagues SW who has been working for about two years as a SW actually thought the November/December payment and raise was a Christmas bonus from the LA, something that proves that new SW generations are not even aware of what is going on.
It seems the simplest point has to be made time and again. The strategy is called being given a mandate by union members. If union members are too lazy to vote on the ballot motion than employers know that the union does not have a significant negotiating chip. That’s it. That’s the lesson. Sit on posteriors and moan and employers will have carte blanche to treat you as an irrelevance.
Gabbie be kind. Social workers wouldn’t be social wirkers if sitting in our bottoms moaning how others are letting us down, that they don’t understand us, that we’re so put upon by useless managers that we are paralysed to think, to act, to take responsibility and to have professional and self respect. Its all them over there Gabbie. Nowt to do with us ever.
Same as the last three years then. Check back mid October when the first offer is finally accepted. Nice to have the money before Christmas though.
Unless something changes, it will be the same each year.
Well change can start with social workers owning their part rather than blaming Unison. I’d warrant in a given team 95% don’t know who their shop steward is and 99% have never attended a union meeting. 3 out of a team of 17 Unison members actually voted on the ballot lat time. So yes same as the last 3 years. Still there’s succour in moaning I suppose.
If we were train drivers it would be a different story! Sad how this sector is overlooked.
Train drivers are not overlooked because they backup what they think they are worth by taking action, including to the detriment of their finances. Social workers are overlooked because they sit around expecting to be given rewards they think they are entitled to and convince themselves they deserve without doing anything constructive to achieve it. It really isn’t that complicated is it?
“Social workers are overlooked because they sit around expecting to be given rewards they think they are entitled to and convince themselves they deserve without doing anything constructive to achieve it. ”
WOW.
Say why you think this is the wrong analysis please. Days when wow elicited excited nodding heads are over. Act and get counted or mope and get ignored are the choices. Social workers have chosen to mope. We deserve to be treated with contempt by our employers, we’ve given them enough cause to ignore us.
If we were like train drivers the story would indeed be different. For a start we would be prepared to go on strike for better pay. But of course we are not train drivers and can’t go on strike because of “the children” clichés.
Even teachers went on Strike in 2023.. They are getting much better offer than we do last year!
rinse and repeat. Y’all drag it out till November. Get worried about xmas and cave in. vote against the deal nut no one willing to strike. Government 5 LA staff 0
what is the point. we are weak and the government know they have already won . Same again for 26/27?
The unions serve a general purpose and that’s not to be entirely dismissed but anyone arguing that their pay negotiations are effective is living on another planet. it will be year another year where the government offers what it was happy to and the union accepts it after a bunch of hot air without negotiating any changes at all 😂
“Act and get counted or mope and get ignored” is the best response to those who do nothing but tell us their expertise on “useless” unions while doing nothing to assist our negotiators by showing some backbone. Now that’s what I call hot air.
Well I think this is a fair summary of the apathy and self inflicted helplessness currently pervasive in social work. If it’s wrong or offensive to say this why is it wrong and offensive?
Social workers, us, all of us, do our best in our jobs but Pauline is right, we do at best next to nothing and generally absolutely nothing when it comes to engaging with our union on the pay claim. Year in year out we don’t use our vote, we ignore the ballot then get incandescent that what we think we are entitled to and deserve in pay isn’t given to us. We then blame the union , our employers and the government rather than take responsibility for the outcome. This is just fact. It may be uncomfortable but it is. Nothing WOW about it actually.
Last year the board that makes pay recommendations to the government accepted that a significant pay rise was justified in the sector. But they could not recommend this because of the way local authorities are funded. Local authorities everywhere are on the verge of bankruptcy. The government is kicking the can down the road in addressing the funding issue. A decent pay rise that we all deserve would bankrupt most if not all councils. Because of this we are in a terrible negotiating position. The general public aren’t really that bothered if we go on strike. Maybe refuse collection but certainly not social work. It isn’t visible. Because of this I will be voting to accept the first offer put forward at the first opportunity.
We want more than they gave us last year what a joke that was
Every social worker in the country could vote to strike and we’d still not get the mandate. The 3 public sector unions are too big with too many members from disparate roles and services. Until there is a Union dealing solely with Adults/Children’s services nothing can or will change.
Does anyone know why a pay award due to be paid from the 1st April our unions have given until end of April to respond on the claim what kind of nonsense is that. Again the pay claim was settled in October for last year what have they possibly been doing in the intervening period apart from asking for the same amount as last year
People are free to leave for better pay elsewhere.
Or retrain in an industry that has a future.
The days of unions are over…apathy..back doordeals..
The interest on the money between april and november is the real elephant in the room.
Thanks for that Elon…most helpful!