Rishi Sunak, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, has laid down the gauntlet for trade unions. He announced pay increases of 5 to 7 percent for workers in the public sector.
The Prime Minister accepted the recommendations made by independent pay review bodies in full on Friday. Education unions in England immediately approved the proposed 6.5 percent wage increase for teachers in 2023-24.
A 6% wage hike for junior doctors on strike, plus an extra £1,250 added to their base pay was not given much attention. Sunak missed the opportunity to offer a “credible deal” according to the British Medical Association.
Sunak backed the proposals of the pay review bodies in full, after Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, assured them that they could be fully funded without resorting an inflationary burst extra borrowing by government.
Hunt stated that ministers will have to find an additional £2bn in this year’s budget and £3bn the following year to fund today’s decision, although he did not give any details on where these savings would be found.
The Treasury announced that an additional £1.4bn will be raised in two years through the increase of visa fees for migrants and by raising their annual NHS “surcharge” by 66 percent to £1,035.
Sunak, a union leader, said that the unions must “do what is right and know when to say yes”.
Sunak , Sunak , said in Downing Street: “The offer today is final.” There will be no further talks about pay. “No amount of strike action will change this decision.”
According to the recommendations of review bodies accepted by ministers in 2023-24, police officers would receive a pay increase of 7 percent; teachers 6.5 percent; senior NHS staff 6%; junior doctors 6% plus a £1,250 consolidated payment; and members of the armed forces 5 percent plus a £1,000 consolidated payment.
The government has already offered to pay a 5% wage increase for NHS staff in 2023-24. This includes nurses and ambulance crews.
In a statement issued jointly with Sunak the NEU and NASUWT teaching unions, NAHT, ASCL, and NAHT said that they would recommend to their members the pay offer made by the government. The teaching unions said that in a joint statement with Sunak, they would recommend the government’s pay offer to their members.
Sunak, in a direct appeal to the BMA, said that it was not right to continue the disruptive industrial action. Not least, because the strikes result in tens and thousands of cancelled appointments every day.
The BMA responded, “This is why so many doctors feel they have no choice but to take industrial actions as they have suffered for years below-inflation wage awards.”
The BMA is demanding that junior doctors receive a pay increase of 35 percent to reverse 15 years’ worth of wage erosion.
Sunak is grappling with the largest series of public sector strike that has occurred in the UK for decades. NHS workers, civil servants, and teachers are demanding higher wages amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Junior doctors that are members of the BMA have begun a five-day unheard-of strike.
Now, public sector salaries could start to match rising prices. Consensus Economics tracks the leading forecasters and expects that consumer price inflation will average 7.3% in 2023, and 3.2% in 2024.
Sunak wants the inflation rate to be halved to around 5% by the end this year. It is currently 8.7 percent.