Unions urge support staff pay rethink

Three unions representing employees including control room operatives, call handlers and forensic specialists have written to the home secretary urging her to reconsider the pay freeze imposed on most police staff this year.

In July, the Police Staff Council decided police staff earning over £24,000 a year would have their pay frozen, with those earning below that figure receiving an increase of just £250 a year.

Writing to Priti Patel, UNISON, GMB and Unite point out that police staff are the only emergency response group to have had a pay freeze imposed on them. In contrast, they say, NHS emergency responders have been offered a 3% pay increase, while firefighters will receive a 1.5% pay rise.

The unions report that the workers, who continued in post throughout the pandemic, are particularly incensed at the pay freeze after the home secretary wrote to them last November thanking them for their “tireless work” and describing “control room staff in particular as the unsung heroes of the crisis”.

In response their letter states: “Not surprisingly, our members now wonder what has happened to the government’s sense of gratitude for the work they carry out 24/7 to keep our communities safe. Put simply, thanks won’t pay the bills.”

https://www.unison.org.uk/news/2021/08/unions-write-to-home-secretary-demanding-police-staff-pay-freeze-is-overturned