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Union warns of government minimum wage shame

1 October 2008

Shamefully low pay levels in the civil service were highlighted today, as PCS claimed that at least six government departments and agencies may have to give low paid staff an emergency pay rise to lift their earnings above the new national minimum wage rate, which came into force today.

The new adult rate of £5.73 for the national minimum wage has led to some government departments and agencies, such as the Office for National Statistics, writing to staff to inform them of the special pay rise. The areas potentially affected by the minimum wage rise are:

  • The Home Office
  • National Offender Management Service (Part of the Prison Service)
  • The Office for National Statistics (ONS)
  • The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
  • National Galleries of Scotland
  • National Museums of Scotland

The news comes as the union ballots 270,000 members across the UK, working for government departments, agencies and related bodies, over the government’s policy to cap public sector pay to below inflation.

The government’s public sector pay policy is disproportionately hitting some of the lowest paid in the public sector and leading to pay freezes and pay cuts.

This year has already seen pay strikes hit jobcentres, passports, immigration and coastguards across the UK and follows last week’s strike in the Scottish courts service, museums and sportscotland.


Pay in the civil service is worse than other parts of the public sector because ‘progression’ (moving from the minimum to the maximum of the pay range) is included in the government’s pay cap. Hence there is less money available to fund basic pay awards.

Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “It is shameful that government departments and agencies may have to give low paid staff an emergency pay rise to lift their earnings above the new national minimum wage.

"This sorry state of affairs underlines the endemic problem of low pay across civil and public services, which is being made worse by the government’s public sector pay cap.

“The government profess to be on the side of hardworking families yet penalise its own workforce with pay cuts and pay freezes, some of whom have to rely on an increase in the minimum wage before they get a pay rise.

"The government have got to address the problem of low pay and review its public sector pay cap to stem the growing anger amongst its own workforce.”
 

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