Unite the Union on Tuesday submitted an “ambitious” 20% Public Sector pay claim for 2025/6, as it sought to tackle wage stagnation and recover real term pay losses since 2019.
The claim was announced just a week after Unite told this newspaper that pay freezes, rising costs of living and persistent staffing issues were driving public sector workers in Gibraltar toward breaking point.
Unite highlighted mounting discontent among the workforce, citing unaddressed claims, job creep and burnout as workers grappled with stagnant wages and increasing demands.
Following the cost-of-living increase applied in the Public Sector in 2019, there were no further increases until 2023 and these only applied to those workers who earned less than the new public sector minimum of £21,674.
Workers who were paid in excess of that sum and less than £100,000 a year received a non-consolidated, tax-free sum of between £600 and £1,200 dependent on earnings.
In 2024 there were consolidated pay increases of between £600 and £1,200 depending on earnings, but with no increase for those earning in excess of £100,000 per annum, who will have been without a cost-of-living increase for six years by August 1, the pay settlement date.
The claim announced on Tuesday was formulated by taking account of feedback from Unite branches, shop stewards and members across the public sector, and is multi-faceted to include issues outside of pay.
The pay claim is also governed by a series of pay principles that have been developed by Unite’s elected Public Sector Pay Working Group based on views, feedback and opinions of those Unite members and activists covered by public sector pay arrangements.
The union said the pay principles had guided its claim and will dictate the pay negotiations from now.
“The overwhelming feedback from Unite branches, shop stewards and members was the need to recover the real terms losses in pay that have been experienced since the cost of living increase in 2019 with higher costs from the inflationary spirals experienced across 2022 and 2023 now being hard baked into prices,” said Stuart Davies, National Officer for Unite Gibraltar.
“This has driven the headline pay claim of 20%, the recovery of those real terms losses in pay will be a central feature of pay claims moving forwards as Unite seeks that recovery across this and future pay rounds.”
“The Public Sector Pay Principles are also an important factor, developed and agreed by activists these will guide the union’s position to pay claims and negotiations such as percentage increases not fixed monetary increases, consolidated pay rises only and an across the board application of any pay solution.”
“The pay claim also contains other important elements such as addressing the minimum public sector salary and also the proliferation of Zero Hour Contracts in both the public and private sectors.”
“The message from across the whole of the Unite membership is that these contracts have no place in the Gibraltar economy in covering permanent roles and vacancies.”
“The claim is also calling for further and significant progress with the Gibraltar minimum wage to support the lowest paid in the wider labour market and finally for the establishment of the Gibraltar Living Wage.”
“This is an ambitious claim and one that the union looks forward to engaging with [the Gibraltar Government] on, the claim is being communicated to all Unite members in the public sector who will have a say and vote on any final pay proposal achieved via negotiations.”
The Unite Public Sector Pay Working Group will be re-elected in the first three months of 2025, with the new group taking office from April 1.
It will continue to meet regularly throughout the negotiation period to have oversight of the pay campaign and negotiations, Unite said.
In announcing the claim, Unite published a six-page letter from Mr Davies to the Chief Minister setting out details of the union’s position, including the pay principles.
Mr Davies wrote that “…essentially the position of the union and our representatives is that pay deals should be single year agreements, consisting of consolidated pay increases only, with these increases being a percentage increase rather than monetary increase and applied consistently across the board, regardless of salary.”
“The real terms loss in pay since 2019 will be a key factor in pay claims now and in the future with a view to recovering those real terms losses in pay resulting from no cost-of-living increases, also the UK pay parity principles are reaffirmed.”
Mr Davies noted that while inflationary pressures were easing in the UK and across Europe, there was still a risk of “inflationary shocks” similar to those experienced between 2021 and 2024, adding that those increases were now “hard-wired into prices” even while workers’ wages lagged behind.
Utilising the Gibraltar Government’s inflation calculator, the increase in prices since October 2019 to July 2024 has been 21.4%, meaning one pound in October 2019 was worth 82 pence in July 2024, the union said.
“The real terms loss in pay since 2019 will be a key factor in pay claims now and in the future with a view to recovering those real terms losses in pay resulting from no cost-of-living increases, also the UK pay parity principles are reaffirmed,” Mr Davies said.
And he added: “The real terms cut in pay, coupled with those high inflationary trends continue to challenge the financial spending power of households and families.”
The union also included in the claim its desire for further increases in the minimum wage.
While it acknowledged “significant strides” in this respect, it said Gibraltar still lagged behind the UK, including in terms of the public sector minimum salary.
Unite is also seeking progress toward establishing a Gibraltar Living Wage to identify and benchmark the wage which workers need to earn in Gibraltar in order to have a living wage.
It also wants action end zero-hour contracts that Mr Davies said remain “the scourge” of many workers in both the public and private sectors.
In the public sector, “employees on these contracts are often working full time or part time equivalent hours on a consistent basis with no job security,” Mr Davies wrote in his letter to the Chief Minister.
“In the private sector there is again a heavy reliance on these contracts, not to cover peaks in demand, absences etc, but business as usual hours of work.”
“There have been numerous discussions around the introduction of legislation to enable workers who operate a consistent working pattern to request and have these hours enshrined in a contract of employment.”
“The introduction of this legislation is of critical importance to provide a level of certainty and security to those workers delivering crucial services in the private sector.”
Mr Davies said Unite looked forward to discussing the pay claim with the Government and Chief Minister “at the earliest opportunity”.
A spokesperson for No.6 Convent Place said: “The Government confirms receipt of the claim from the GGCA, which we received two weeks ago, and from Unite the Union today.”
“The Government will meet with all three unions, including the teachers’ union, together to discuss all claims ahead of the Budget for the Financial Year 25/26.”
Speaking on GBC’s Gibraltar Today, Keith Azopardi, the Leader of the Opposition, said Unite’s position was understandable.
“It’s not surprising that the union are seeking an advancement in public sector pay in a more structured way because bear in mind that there has been a freeze in public sector salaries since 2019..,” Mr Azopardi said.
“And what the Government has done over the last few years is it’s provided what we have called handouts, really electoral handouts before the last election, where they paid lump sums to certain tiers in the public sector to try to ameliorate that.”
“But we’ve been talking about the effect of the cost-of-living crisis at different levels, both public sector workers and private sector workers.”
“It’s against the backdrop, however, of the fact that we have been talking about a public finances crisis for many years and we have been warning about the inability or unwillingness of the Government to properly address that public finances crisis.”
“And we’ve been saying, and we’ve been warning, that if you don’t address the public finances crisis, it means that there’s less money for people, for wage rises.”
And he added: “The themes are still there. The lack of control is there in the Health Authority and in other areas where there’s budget overspend, and that is affecting normal workers and families because there’s less money to go around [for] wage rises, and that ill discipline is the fault and at the door of the government.”
