WIREDGOV

Reacting to plans announced in the Budget yesterday (Wednesday) that the government is to introduce local pay rates for public sector workers, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'It's not public sector pay rates that are stopping the private sector from creating jobs. It's our stagnating economy, a lack of lending by the banks for firms to invest and consumers who are too worried about losing their jobs to spend - that's the real reason businesses lack the confidence to grow.

'Picking the pockets of public servants outside London and the South East by localising pay will simply widen the North-South divide, and cause more businesses to fail by taking even more money out of local economies - at a time when they need all the help they can get.

'Pay rates for teachers and nurses should be based on their skills and the jobs that they do, not on the areas in which they happen to live and work.

'Local pay risks complex, costly and inefficient pay setting for public sector employers, regional skills shortages as public servants opt to work in areas where pay rates are higher, and a long term future of pay falling behind for workers outside London and the South East.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

Contacts:

Media enquiries:
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Elly Gibson T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07900 910624 E: egibson@tuc.org.uk