£7.45 hourly rate for Wolverhampton City Council workers
Thousands of council workers will see their pay go up to at least £7.45 an hour – £1.26 higher than minimum wage – under a new proposed pay scale that was revealed today.
Wolverhampton City Council had previously proposed to increase the wages of the 2,058 lowest paid staff to a minimum of £6.63 an hour, 44p more than the national minimum wage of £6.19. But it was today revealed that the council is set to dramatically increase pay. Bosses are also trying to get unions to accept equal pay proposals.
Trade unions are angry that staff are set to lose double time and time and a half for working weekends under the controversial single status arrangement, which is meant to iron out decades of pay inequality between men and women.
Under the arrangements, which each council has been forced by law to draw up, 5,423 staff were going to see their pay rise and 1,242 were set to see their pay cut from next April.
The overall cost would have been an extra £6.6 million a year and this will significantly rise under the "living wage" plans.
Trade union Unison has been threatening to strike over changes to terms and conditions for staff.
Nationally there has been a campaign for a "living wage" of £7.45 for all workers. The rate is considered the minimum people need to live a decent life.
The increase would benefit people in jobs such as kitchen assistants, cleaners, domestic assistants and lollipop ladies.
Adrian Turner, Unison's representative at the city council, said: "Unison had told the council its original proposals were unacceptable and we would be balloting our members.
"One of the things we have pushed for is the living wage as the bottom rate.
"The council has come back with a package that matches that."
Paul Brown, spokesman for Wolverhampton City Council, said: "The city council is continuing negotiations with the trade unions with the aim of getting a collective agreement on single status."
