Public sector pay

Brendan Barber leading the call for fair public sector pay

Monday, 08, Sep 2008 12:00

As the TUC's four-day conference gets underway, attention is focused on union opposition to the government's public sector pay.

The Treasury is determined to keep wage inflation at a minimum and has forced teachers, nurses, police and others to accept pay increases which are effectively below inflation in recent months.

Unions say this is unfair and that hard-working public sector staff should not be the ones who suffer most.

Individual unions like the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) are planning their own actions, but the TUC has shied away from calling a nationwide strike on the issue.