Civil servants protest nationwide demanding end to 1% cap on public sector pay
CIVIL servants will stage protests later to call on the Government to end the 1 per cent cap on public sector pay.
Members of PCS will take part in events outside workplaces across the country
Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) will take part in events outside workplaces across the country.
The union said the demonstrations mark the day that sees the imposition of another year of the 1 per cent cap.
From 2010 to 2016, average civil service pay fell by between £2,000 and £3,500 in real terms, a bigger decline than the rest of the public sector and the wider economy, said the PCS.
The demonstrations mark the day that sees the imposition of another year of the cap
Civil and public service workers keep our public services running but, like workers right across the public sector, their take-home pay has been cut year on year
General secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Civil and public service workers keep our public services running but, like workers right across the public sector, their take-home pay has been cut year on year.
"With rising inflation, more hard-working staff are being pushed into poverty. The Tories are responsible for this fall in living standards, having held down public sector pay for seven years.
"Theresa May's Government has lost all authority on the pay cap. Ministers can and must act immediately to increase the wages of their own workforce.
Marr presses McDonnell on Labour's public sector pay promise
"The pay cap is unsustainable. Our message is clear: all public servants deserve a proper pay rise and the cap must be lifted now."
Peter Dowd, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: "These protests reinforce the unfairness of the public sector pay cap and the poor treatment that civil servants and other public sector workers have faced at the hands of this Government.
The average pay for civil servants fell between £2K and £3.5K in real terms
"Civil servants and other public sector workers have seen their real wages fall constantly over the seven years of Conservative pay freezes and caps.
"It is shocking that our public servants have been forced into protesting their poor treatment and falling wages caused by the Tory Government's pay freezes and caps."