London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Strikes threat as UK public sector staff given below-inflation pay rise

Strikes threat as UK public sector staff given below-inflation pay rise

Unions warn many workers will quit teaching, nursing and social care rather than take real-terms pay cut

Public sector unions raised the prospect of widespread strikes in schools and hospitals after being told millions of their workers are to receive below-inflation pay rises.

Ministers announced the pay rises on Tuesday, with NHS staff receiving a rise of at least 4.5%, teachers at least 5% and £1,900 for police officers. Health unions angrily denounced the NHS pay rises as a “betrayal” and “a kick in the teeth”, and warned stoppages could be on the horizon.

With energy and food costs soaring, unions had demanded pay rises in line with inflation – currently 9.1% but expected to rise to 11% later in the year, according to the Bank of England – putting them on a collision course with ministers who have said pay restraint is necessary to curb rising prices.

Unions warned many staff would quit rather than accept a real-terms pay cut, exacerbating recruitment and retention problems in key areas such as teaching, nursing and social care – and adding to waiting times for NHS operations and ambulance call outs.

In a series of ministerial statements on Tuesday afternoon, the government announced:

*  More than 1 million NHS staff, including nurses, midwives and paramedics, will get a pay rise of £1,400, equivalent to 4%. However, cleaners and porters will get 9.3% while dentists and consultant doctors will receive 4.5%.

*  Teachers have been awarded 5% – though newly qualified teachers will get 8.9%.

*  Police officers in England and Wales will receive a consolidated pay award of £1,900, equivalent to a 5% increase overall. Prison officers will receive a 4% base pay increase.

*  UK armed forces will receive a base pay rise of 3.5%.

Pat Cullen, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, predicted an exodus of disillusioned nurses from the NHS. “This is a grave misstep by ministers … they have enforced another real-terms pay cut on nursing staff. It will push more nurses and nursing support workers out of the profession,” she said.

The NHS Confederation, which represents hospital trusts in England, warned the government’s failure to fully fund the awards had left the NHS in England in “the impossible position of having to choose which services they will cut back in order to find an unexpected £1.8bn to fund the additional rise.”

The Department of Health and Social Care factored a 3% pay uplift into NHS England’s budget for this year, and has refused to cover the cost of the difference.

“The government promised rewards for the dedication of the public sector workforce during the pandemic. What they have delivered instead, in real terms, is a kick in the teeth. The so-called wage offer amounts to a massive national pay cut. We expected the inevitable betrayal but the scale of it is an affront,” said Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary.

Schools in England could face disruption as a result of industrial action later this year, after teaching unions dismissed a 5% pay award by the government as “wholly inadequate” in the face of soaring inflation.

The government said the award was the highest in 30 years and includes an 8.9% uplift for teachers’ starting salaries, taking them up to £28,000 outside London, though this still falls short of the government’s 2019 manifesto pledge of £30,000.

Teaching unions responded angrily, pointing out that the pay increase, to be introduced from September, represents a real-terms pay cut. “After 12 years of pay freezes, pay pauses and below-inflation pay awards amounting to a 20% real-terms cut, teachers will be dismayed to hear that the government expects them to stomach the largest real-terms cut to their pay,” said Dr Patrick Roach, the NASUWT general secretary.

The 5% offer for experienced teachers marks an improvement on the 3% originally proposed by the government. It will mean an increase of almost £2,100 on the average salary of £42,400, but the unions said the increase did not go nearly far enough.

Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “It seems that loyal, hard-working public servants are always expected to take the hit. Unsurprisingly, they have had enough and we – like other unions – will be consulting our members to see whether they wish to take industrial action in response to this decision.”

The Police Federation broadly welcomed the award with its chair, Steve Hartshorn, saying it was a “small first step” in repairing a strained relationship with the government.

The federation representing Metropolitan police officers – the biggest branch – attacked the award, pointing out in recent years police pay has fallen 20% behind inflation. Its chair, Ken Marsh, described the award as “derisory” and “a betrayal.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
×