'Last chance saloon' for national pay deals

摘要

National local government pay talks are 'in the last chance saloon', an influential trade union leader has warned - as next month's threatened mass walkouts remain on course. The admonition from Brian Strutton, national secretary of the GMB trade union, comes as local government employers continue to stonewall negotiations ahead of strikes planned for 14 October, claiming there is 'no room for manoeuvre'. Last year unions reluctantly accepted the 2013/14 National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC) pay offer on the basis it would put an end to three successive years of pay freeze. But in an exclusive online article which appears on The MJ's website today, Mr Strutton argues 'national collective pay bargaining in local government is on the verge of collapse'.