Wednesday, February 18, 2004

PAY NEWS

An update on the pay dispute with my employer.

David Rowlands, my employer's top official, met union representatives yesterday. Rowlands earns at a minimum £150,000 and voted himself a 5.5% pay rise last year. At the bottom end of the scale, employees in his organisation earn around £12,000 and have been offered around 2%.

Rowlands rejected an offer by the union to return to the negotiating table.

Last Friday's Times picks up cross Whitehall pay battle.

"A bitter row over Whitehall pay erupted last night after the most senior officials were awarded pay rises of up to £50,000 while the lowly were told that they would have to manage on less than inflation.

"... The rises for the 3,000 most senior civil servants, including permanent secretaries, are on a sliding scale of 0 to 9 per cent.

"The announcements will deepen the rift between the 3,000-strong Whitehall elite and the 497,000 rank-and-file officials who are now in dispute with six departments.

"...junior officials at the Department for Work and Pensions, on salaries of £10,500 are taking strike action over a 2.6 per cent proposed pay rise.

"They will be futher angered by bonuses of up to 11 per cent which senior civil servants could earn, in addition to the pay increases of between 0 and 9 per cent. "

Stay tuned.

:: Posted by pete @ 20:58