Union in talks over proposal to freeze increments again

Members of the GMB who work for Sheffield Council are among thousands of workers who face an effective wage freeze next year after the authority said it needed to keep staff costs under control as a result of Government austerity measures.

Staff who work for the council should receive an increment every year until they reach the top of their pay scale. This is awarded on top of any nationally agreed pay increase for local government workers.

But there have been no national pay rises agreed by Government in recent years, and yesterday workers said they were facing increasing hardship as a result of the cost of living rising while their pay remained static.

Yesterday the GMB’s spokesman at Sheffield Council, Peter Davies, said there was “no good news” for staff at the authority, who either faced swallowing the increment freeze for another 12 months or risk being made redundant.

In a memo to members inviting them to last night’s meeting, officials said all the options open to workers affected by the authority’s proposals would be discussed.

It said the union had received formal notification letters from both Sheffield Council and Sheffield Homes over the issue.

“Without going into minute detail, both employers want to freeze increments in 2013-14,” it told members.

“As is always the case whenever we get to this point in negotiations, rumours are plentiful.

“There are some quite controversial issues that are under discussion and being proposed by both employers.”

Julie Toner, Sheffield Council’s director of human resources, said the increment freeze had helped the authority save £8m.

She added: “We are under no illusion that the challenges ahead for the budget are tough and as a responsible organisation we have to consider all the ways we can to make further savings.

“Extending the current increment freeze for staff for another year is a sensible and pragmatic way of saving the council up to £5m next year, which will help to protect services and jobs.

“This proposal has been put to the trade unions and we have asked them to consider coming to an agreement with us.”

The £8m saving was also partly achieved by workers buying holidays, career breaks, voluntary reductions in hours, voluntary severance and voluntary retirement.

The Yorkshire Post revealed on Saturday how councils across the region are warning they face making more than £100m in additional cost-cutting measures.

Sheffield Council chiefs claim new and unexpected reductions in funding from Government could cost £10m in each of the next two years in extra efficiencies.