Unison member in the National Probation Service
Probation workers across the three main sector unions (Unison, Napo and GMB) have voted to accept the three-year pay deal which, in real terms, amounts to a significant pay cut.
This comes on top of over a decade of below-inflation pay rises – since 2010, pay for probation staff has risen by just 1% while the cost of living has increased by over 40% across the same time period.
However, while the ballot returned an overall ‘yes’ vote, over a third of members in my union Unison, and a similar number in Napo, voted to reject the offer, indicating a willingness to take industrial action. This result, while disappointing, shows what could have been achieved had the unions recommended a reject vote, and built a joint campaign to demand the real pay rise we deserve.
But, like many of the current industrial disputes, this is not just about pay. The probation service is still recovering from the disastrous effects of privatisation which has resulted in severe staffing shortages, often unmanageable workloads and high levels of staff stress.
While a decent pay rise would of course not immediately solve all of these problems, for probation workers who deal daily with high risk, challenging people often with complex needs, such a pay offer would at least reflect the level of respect we deserve. However, as one of my colleagues said: “We are struggling to attract new staff to the profession because we are not treated like professionals.”
It is clear from this result that action is desperately needed to put pressure on the Unison leadership to stand up and be prepared to fight for its members in probation. Unison workers in other sectors such as adult care and universities are taking industrial action right now over pay – probation workers will rightly be asking ‘why not us?’
