The British government agreed on Thursday to raise the wages of millions of public sector workers by up to 7% in a bid to end a series of strikes.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed that the government would accept the recommendations of the salary review bodies, which proposed a 7% increase for police officers, 6.5% for teachers and 6% for trainee doctors.
Armed Forces personnel, who are prohibited from going on strike, will receive a minimum increase of 5%.
In a press conference, Sunak considered the decision fair, but warned that the increases must be financed with money already budgeted by the respective ministries.
“It wouldn’t be right to raise everyone’s taxes to pay some people more, especially when family budgets are so tight. It would also not be right to pay them with more debt, because the increase in debt only makes inflation worse,” he said. justified.
The news has already been welcomed by the four education sector unions – ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT and NEU – who intend to advise members to accept.
“This agreement will allow teachers and school leaders to call off the strike and resume normal relations with the government,” they said in a statement.
The government has been under pressure to increase the salaries of civil servants to compensate for the loss of purchasing power due to inflation, which fell to 8.7% in May.
Precisely this Thursday, and to demand a 35% increase, tens of thousands of doctors in England began a five-day strike, considered the longest of this profession in the British public health system (NHS).
Sunak stressed that “there is a clear message” that “budgets are not infinite” and that “today’s proposal is final”, rejecting further negotiations on wages.
“We will not renegotiate the provisions this year and there are no more strikes that will change our decision,” he emphasized.
The potential cost of these increases foreseen by the Ministry of Finance was estimated between 3,000 million pounds sterling (3,500 million euros) and 5,000 million pounds sterling (5,848 million euros).
Source: TSF
