Stop reading blogs and build for strike action!

The UNISON Active blog last week set out why the pay proposals from the local government employers were not worthy of serious consideration with somewhat greater brevity than regular readers will have found on this blog.

UNISON’s National Joint Council (NJC) Committee decided to reject the proposals for three reasons, only one of which was the technicality that the proposals were not an offer.

The other reasons were that the lump sum element failed even to amount to the back pay due to many members on the 1% previously offered from 1 April, and that the overall percentage increase on a two year deal was inadequate.

There are those in our movement who, for whatever reason, want to bring an end to our pay dispute. Whatever their real reasons, no one with a clue as to what is going on believes that it is essential that members are “consulted” on such proposals (even if they became an offer).

To date there is no basis whatsoever for the NJC Committee to revisit its decision to proceed with action on 14 October. If the “proposals” re-emerge as an offer, perhaps with an increase in the “lump sum” unconsolidated payment, some may argue that the decision should be reconsidered.

That would be wrong.

Now I’ll stop writing this, and you stop reading it, and we’ll get on with building support for strike action a week today.