Civil service union attacks No 10 for not offering cost of living payment

theguardian.com:

A major union has criticised No 10 for not offering civil servants the lump sum cost of living payments that other public sector workers such as teachers and health staff have been promised.

Prospect union’s general secretary, Mike Clancy, said as members prepared to strike that the unions had been “given every indication” that the pay offer for civil servants would follow the same template as others in the public sector.

Teachers, rail workers and health staff have all been offered one-off lump sums to help deal with cost of living pressures.

However, Clancy said this idea appeared to have been “abruptly” dropped when the Cabinet Office put a pay offer on the table last month. All civil servants were instead offered just 4.5% in 2023/24 for most officials at a time when inflation is in double digits, following 2-3% the previous year.

“We speculate this was a decision at No 10 communicated to the Cabinet Office and it beggars belief because you can’t come up with a logical reason for doing this,” Clancy said. “We are not going to let go of the fact there was every indication that more was available but civil servants in the end were treated worse than everyone else. Why? Someone needs to answer this question and explain.”

Although a lump sum was never formally offered to the civil service unions, several sources said it was generally understood that a cash payment would be forthcoming. But when Jeremy Quin, a Cabinet Office minister, presented the pay offer, he appeared embarrassed that it did not match up to the deals put forward for other public sector workers.

Prospect members are now set to strike on Wednesday, after a previous day of action on 15 March and continuous rolling industrial action of working to rule and an