‘It’s bad news for everyone if there aren’t enough council and school employees to keep neighbourhoods safe, care for vulnerable people and give pupils the education they need’
Unions representing 1.4 million council and school employees across England, Wales and Northern Ireland have lodged a claim for a £3,000 annual pay rise.
They’ve informed local authority employers that a significant increase is crucial as staff grapple with escalating living costs, having missed out on the higher wage settlements awarded to workers in other public sector areas over the past year.
Unison, the GMB and Unite highlighted that the value of local government and school staff pay has “plummeted” for more than a decade, pointing out that their wage settlement for the past year averaged 2.5%, compared with 5.5% for teaching staff and over 6% for many doctors in the next pay year. In the 2025/26 pay claim, the unions demanded a minimum hourly rate of £15, an additional day of annual leave, a two-hour reduction in the working week and the right for school staff to take at least one day of leave within term time.
The unions stressed that council employees, including refuse collectors, librarians, teaching assistants, care workers, cleaners and catering staff, must be rewarded for the essential local services they help provide. Unison’s head of local government Mike Short stated: “Services provided by council and school workers are vital for communities to thrive, but wages have remained low, and without decent pay, staff feel undervalued and are looking for better-paid work elsewhere. A proper pay offer is essential.
“It’s bad news for everyone if there aren’t enough council and school employees to keep neighbourhoods safe, care for vulnerable people and give pupils the education they need,” GMB national officer Sharon Wilde remarked. “It is vital that central government invests in the schools and local government workforce. GMB members tell us low pay, funding cuts and increasing workloads are the biggest issues facing them and their colleagues at work.
“A decent pay rise is needed for staff to feel valued at work and to retain these vital public sector workers who are essential to our society.”
Unite national officer for local government Clare Keogh added: “After years of real-term pay cuts, local government employers need to recognise that there is growing anger among workers, especially the lowest paid, about the way they are treated year after year.”
The demand is for a £3,000 increase on all pay points for 2025-26, which would be given to full-time staff and adjusted pro-rata for part-timers.
