Government lies on public-sector pay

PROOF THAT the government is holding down public sector wage settlements below the rate of inflation - ie pay cuts - is provided by a report from the Incomes Data Services.

Their report shows that average public sector wage rises during the three months to the end of May this year were running at a mere 2.7% (compared to 3.8% in the private sector), while the current retail prices index (RPI) is 4.3%.

This latest data ties in with a survey by the Industrial Relations Service (reported in The Socialist last week), covering the same period, that shows only 9% of pay deals were for settlements above the RPI.

This means that a whopping 91% of workers were effectively receiving pay cuts.

These reports nail the government's lie that public sector pay rises are fuelling inflation.