Ask your MP to stand up for fair pay today

20.06.12 - Byron Taylor

This afternoon, our MPs have the chance to vote on the Government’s plans for regional pay for our public servants.

This Tory-led Government want to change the rules, so that nurses, care workers, teachers and all the others who work for the good of society will be paid differently depending on where they live - even though they’re doing exactly the same job.

If the Government gets its way, public sector workers in some parts of the country could see their pay frozen, or even cut. Those hardest hit would be the people working in the regions of our country worst affected by the recession.

Will you email your MP now and ask them to vote to say no to regional pay this afternoon?

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/fairpay

The Tories’ proposal will make regional inequalities even worse than they already are. Public services in the most deprived parts of the country will be hit hardest, struggling to attract skilled workers because they can't match the wages offered in wealthier regions.

The Government even has the cheek to claim that regional pay will help us out of the recession - when the reality is that they are making public sector workers suffer a long and painful pay freeze. If we force our public sector workers to work for less money, they will have cut back even further on household spending. How can we expect local businesses to grow if their customers aren’t spending?

If the Government do press ahead with regional pay, it could even end up costing taxpayers more. Schools, hospitals and other public bodies will have to spend time and money setting up complex and bureaucratic processes for setting pay.

Today, Labour have called a debate to ask the Government to back down on regional pay before it’s too late. Will you email your MP now?

http://www.unionstogether.org.uk/fairpay

Our public servants - the people who educate our children, care for us when we are ill and who look after our elderly relatives - have already had their pay frozen for two years, despite the cost of living going up. They are already being asked to accept big changes to their pensions.

We owe it to them to stand up for fair, decent pay for the work they do for us all - wherever they live in the UK!

Byron