Kate Forbes defends public sector pay rises
- Published
Kate Forbes said the UK chancellor's decision to freeze public sector pay in September had a material impact on the Scottish budget
Scotland's finance secretary has defended her pay rise for public sector workers after unions called it a "slap in the face".
In her budget on Thursday, Kate Forbes announced a 3% rise for people earning under £25,000, with 1% for people earning up to £80,000 a year.
She said it was a "progressive and restorative approach".
But unions called the offer a disappointment after a year of working through the pandemic.
The awards announced during the budget speech for 2021-2022 were:
£750 (minimum 3%) for those earning £25,000 or below
1% for those earning between £25,000 and £80,000
A capped increase of £800 for those above £80,000
Speaking on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, Ms Forbes answered angry criticism from various public sector unions.
'Grateful and thankful'
She said: " Our public sector pay policy is fair but is also affordable. I strongly rejected the chancellor's decision to freeze public sector pay in Sept but his decision has a material impact on the budget.
"In Scotland, we have taken a far more progressive approach to increase pay by 3% for the lowest paid and a smaller increase for those earning up to 80,000."
She added that other workforce deals were to be negotiated in the coming months, including for teachers and NHS workers.
She said the award announced "set the benchmark" to say the Scottish government was grateful and thankful for the work of front-line public sector workers.
She added: "We are recognising it in the form of a pay increase but we also have to balance it within our overall budget which is equally trying to provide support to business, keep the health service running and ensure our transport services are still running."
She said she would "love to go further in many ways" but that she could not overspend or borrow more. She said the pay deal "had to be affordable".
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Senior public servants' union, the FDA was quick to respond to Thursday's pay announcement.
National officer for Scotland, Allan Sampson, said: "Faced with an opportunity to reward and repay public servants for their heroic efforts over the past year, the Scottish government has instead chosen to mirror the UK government's approach of restriction and restraint.
"Whilst we welcome the targeted support for those on the lowest incomes, this pay policy will create expectations of a 1% pay rise for many staff, and will be seen as a slap in the face to the very workers this government has publicly applauded."
GMB Scotland said it "would not amount to more than a tenner a week for most".
Unison Scotland welcomed the recognition for those on the lowest pay but said it fell short of a decent pay rise for public sector workers.
The EIS is calling for recognition of the work teachers have done during the pandemic
Teaching union the EIS said it would seek further talks on pay, calling for recognition of the effort of teachers during the pandemic.
General Secretary Larry Flanagan said: "Today's announcement of an effective pay freeze will be met with deep disappointment by Scotland's teachers, who have been working flat-out throughout the pandemic to offer as much support as possible to young people."
He said that politicians of all parties had repeatedly lauded the efforts of teachers during the pandemic.
He said: "It appears, however, that the Scottish government is failing to match that rhetoric and instead is effectively seeking to freeze the pay of the teachers, rather than properly recognising their value."
Mr Flanagan added, "Teachers' pay is negotiated via the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), however, and as we have only recently submitted a pay claim for this year, calling for proper recognition of the value of teachers, we will be seeking further discussions in that forum."