Pay Justice for School and Council Workers: Members Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQs)
1. How is my pay negotiated?
As a worker in local government or in most schools, your pay and other terms and
conditions are determined by a negotiating body called the National Joint Council
(NJC) for local government services. Over 1.5 million local government workers in
England Wales and Northern Ireland have their pay and conditions determined within
the national framework negotiated in the NJC. The NJC trade union side is made up
of representatives from UNISON and other trade unions. The Local Government
Association represents local authorities in negotiations. Many organisations in the
public and private sectors also follow the NJC’s agreements.
2. How do I know if my pay is on the NJC pay scale?
A handbook of NJC agreements is published as the Green Book. The NJC is not a
statutory body and its agreements do not have to be applied (statutory force.) The
agreement is voluntary in that local authorities are not obliged by law to incorporate
NJC terms into their employees’ contracts. But the great majority of authorities and
most schools do choose to follow NJC agreements. Collective agreements like the
Green Book are part of your contract where local authorities or schools incorporate
reference to them into individual’s contracts of employment.
3. What are NJC spinal column points (scps)? Are they the same as grades?
The basic pay of each employee consists of a pay point or points on the NJC pay
spine. The bottom of the NJC spine starts at scp 6 and the top is scp 49. At present
scp 6 is £13,614 a year and scp 49 is £42,957. Grades are not agreed by the NJC.
Each authority (or school) uses the NJC pay spine to construct their local grading
structure. Some employers start their bottom grade on a scp above scp 6 and many
extend the NJC pay spine locally above scp 49.
The Trade Union Side submits an annual pay claim for a cost of living increase to be
implemented in April. The increase agreed is applied to the NJC pay spine. UNISON
bulletins will refer to NJC pay points or scp because employers have different
grading structures. You should check with your branch how the NJC pay spine
applies to your pay and grading structure.
4. Although my salary is on NJC scp 6 I receive the UK Living Wage as a
supplement – why is it necessary to scrap the lower NJC pay spine points?
The deletion of scp below the UK/London Living Wage gives you more security. Your
employer could stop paying you the supplement. If you work for a community school,
your employer can decide not to pay the supplement but has to follow the scp used
by their council.
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5. I already earn above the Living Wage (OR London Living Wage), why is this
campaign important to me?
Our pay claim is asking for everyone to be paid at least the UK Living Wage (or
London Living Wage) rate. If you are paid above the UK Living Wage, the claim is
important for you because we are also demanding a flat rate increase of £1 per hour
on pay points above the Living Wage.
Pay cuts across councils and schools affects not just those on the lowest grades, but
the entire workforce. For the vast majority of the workforce, last year’s pay award
represented the sixth consecutive pay cut since 2010. Everyone being paid above
the Living Wage has suffered a 20% fall in how much their pay is worth in real terms
once you take the effect of inflation into account.
This campaign is also important because as well as a much needed pay rise,
UNISON is calling for the employers to retain and protect Green Book Part 2 terms
and conditions. Councils and schools are slashing terms and conditions at a local
level to save money. We are calling for an end to the cuts to your terms and
conditions.
6. Is the claim affordable?
Many NJC workers are reliant on in-work benefits. The taxpayer is subsidising
schools and councils to pay poverty wages. The savings made by paying local
government workers the Living Wage and restoring earnings for higher paid
employees could be channelled back by the Treasury into local government and
schools settlements to pay for increases in pay. Research by the New Policy Institute
indicates extra taxes and National Insurance to the Treasury will fund over half the
cost of our claim.
7. Won’t more pay mean more jobs and services have to go?
Keeping your pay low will not protect jobs and services. You are doing far more for
less – and working unpaid overtime. But your job is still threatened and less secure
than private sector jobs. Councils say they cut pay to save jobs but while your pay is
help down year after year, jobs still disappear and services continue to be stripped to
the bone, privatised or stopped altogether. Your pay should reflect the fact that you
are keeping services and schools going – against the odds.
8. Will this campaign really be able to change the government’s policies?
There are major benefits to the economy that would arise from lifting the
government’s 1% public sector pay cap and easing the squeeze on living standards.
These include increasing revenue from an increase in the tax take and national
insurance contributions as people’s take home pay increases, a boost in the
collection of additional indirect taxes as additional take-home pay is spent on goods
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and services and a multiplier effect arising from the stimulus to demand take home
pay increases.
The bigger agenda is that we are not all in it together! The government is cutting
local government expenditure and driving down pay. The government has cut council
funding more than any other sector, although education cuts are starting to bite hard.
You have borne the brunt of these cuts. Pressure can change government policy.
9. What is the UK Living Wage? Is it the same as the minimum wage?
The UK Living Wage is an hourly rate of pay set independently and updated
annually. It is calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK. The
calculation takes into account things like accommodation, travel, healthy food and
little extras like birthday presents.
The current UK Living Wage is £8.25 an hour and the current London Living Wage is
£9.40 an hour. The Living Wage is reviewed each year by independent academics
and increases in the rates are announced in November during Living Wage Week.
Employers choose to pay the Living Wage on a voluntary basis.
It is not the same as the minimum wage. The national minimum wage is the legal
minimum an employer can pay per hour. Employers break the law if they fail to pay
this rate. The minimum wage rate depends on a worker’s age and if they’re an
apprentice - you must be at least school leaving age to get it. The current rate is:
Ages 21 and over: £6.70
Ages 18 – 20:
£5.30
Under 18:
£3.87
Apprentice:
£3.30
In April 2016, the ‘national living wage’ of £7.20 will be the new minimum wage for
workers aged 25 and older only.
10. How is the Living Wage that UNISON is campaigning for different to
Osborne’s National Living Wage?
Osborne’s new, so-called ‘national living wage’ of £7.20 becomes law in April 2016
but only applies to those aged 25 or over. The government has stuck this “living
wage” label on what is, in effect, a new national minimum wage for those aged 25
and over. It fails to properly take account of the cost of living. If the price of food,
electricity bills, mortgage payments or rents go up, the government’s calculation of
the wage doesn’t change in line with those costs.
While it may be good news for low-paid workers, it is NOT the real UK Living Wage
that UNISON, and thousands of others are campaigning for. The real UK Living
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Wage that UNISON campaigns for is set by the Living Wage Foundation. It currently
stands at £8.25 per hour (or £9.40 per hour in London). The Foundation’s real Living
Wage works out at £2025.75 more per year for a full-time worker than Osborne’s
phoney rate. It’s also recalculated in November each year by the Living Wage
Foundation using a rigorous formula that takes the cost of living into account. And it
applies to everyone regardless of age. The Government’s rate doesn’t.
While Osborne claims that low paid workers will be better off with the new ‘national
living wage’ of £7.20 it’s just not true. Any wage increase for the low paid as a result
of the ‘national living wage’ and the higher personal tax allowance will be clawed
back through government cuts to working tax credits and an increase in the
threshold at which people can claim benefits
11. What are NJC Part 2 conditions and why do they need protecting?
The Green Book has certain key provisions on areas such as sick pay, annual leave
and maternity rights which are meant to set a basic standard across England, Wales
and Northern Ireland. These are contained in a section of the Green Book called Part
2 and are not for local negotiation. However, some authorities are still looking at
reducing them locally, contrary to the Green Book. We are therefore looking for a
guarantee that Part 2 terms and conditions will be retained and protected. It is a key
way employers can demonstrate that they value and support you - their dedicated
and skilled workforce.
12. What is UNISON campaigning for regarding term time wages? What could I
expect to see from a review of term time conditions?
The school team is a range of professional, technical, managerial and site staff.
UNISON believes that treating teachers as full-year and reducing the salaries of
support staff by up to 20% through term time working is divisive, bad for morale and
unfair. These contracts penalise a predominantly female workforce and compound
the problems of low pay within it. Therefore, UNISON wants all school support staff
to be on 52-week year contracts. Where support staff are on term time contacts,
there are many variations and inconsistencies in the formulas used for reducing pay
from the full year rate to a term time figure. There is also no clarity on holiday
entitlement. We are therefore calling for a joint review of term time working and an
NJC approach to deliver fair, consistent and transparent contracts for school support
staff. UNISON is stepping up our campaign for fair treatment for term time workers.
13. Why is this a women’s campaign?
Women ARE the majority of the workforce. 78% of school support and council
workers are women. 61% of all school support and council jobs are part-time and
women do over 90% of these part time jobs. Many of you have more than one part
time job to make ends meet. The disproportionate impact of cuts means the gender
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gap in local government has risen by 3% since 2010. It now stands at 80.8% of
men’s pay – a much bigger gap than across the economy as a whole.
Women are being hit by the impact of the cuts on both sides. As workers in councils
and schools, you are struggling with low pay, increasingly heavy workloads and the
constant threat of further redundancies. As service users, the cuts to local services
mean that there is less help available to them, forcing many to go without the support
they need for themselves and their families.
Many women in councils and schools depend on benefits to make ends meet.
Benefits now make up twice as much of women’s income as men’s. They will be the
hardest hit by working tax credit cuts. Women are more likely to pay for childcare
and children’s clothing. So children’s wellbeing depends on women earning a decent
wage.
Councils and schools are the largest employers of women in the UK. Schools and
councils should set the highest standard on pay, equal pay, maternity rights,
childcare, eldercare and flexible working. Instead, Government cuts are turning them
into hardnosed ‘bargain basement’ employers. Join our campaign and demand pay
justice for women.
14. How can I get involved in the campaign/help get the message out better?
Sign up to our campaign on this web page to receive campaign updates. Help your
branch by handing out leaflets and speaking workmates about joining UNISON and
our campaign. Get them to sign our George Osborne postcard calling for pay justice
for school and council workers.
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