The Government is being called upon to increase the pay of civil servants. This comes after new research revealed that their wages are lower in comparison to what they were nearly 50 years ago.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) shared that a study of pay trends in the Civil Service by Dr Mark Williams from Queen Mary University, London, showed that wages were five percent above the average UK wage in the 1970s and 80s but today are 10 percent below the average.
The report stated that pay has dropped by an average of 1.5 percent per year since austerity was introduced in 2011.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Successive governments should hang their heads in shame at the way they’ve treated their own workforce over the last 50 years.”
She added: “We hear a lot of talk from ministers saying how much they value our members’ work. Now is the time for them to put their money where their mouth is and level up their pay.”
She also mentioned: “We won serious concessions from the Government last year as a result of our industrial action, including a £1,500 bonus, but there’s still a long way to go before we get back to the comparative pay of the 1970s.”
She concluded by saying: “Civil servants play a huge role in making sure the country runs smoothly and it’s about time the Government recognised that by giving our members a well-deserved pay rise.”
