Since industrial action first started to gather speed last year, concerns have been raised about a wage-price spiral causing entrenched inflation. For example, when the government imposed a pay freeze for workers earning more than £21,000 a year in 20, these bodies followed this lead by making no recommendations on pay for staff on higher salaries. However, these bodies are not independent of government. So why is the government refusing to offer a better pay deal to these workers? It argues that it is merely following the advice of the various pay review bodies which make recommendations on pay in the public sector. Voters seem to see years of falling real wages for public sector workers as a problem, even if the government is not acting to raise them. Another poll showed 55% of the public support teachers’ current pay dispute – up from 33% recorded in a similar poll ten years ago. When a recent poll asked the public who they thought was responsible for the nurses’ strike, nearly half (49%) of respondents blamed the government and only 20% blamed the trade unions. Voters largely support public sector workers’ current industrial disputes. On a longer-term basis, a growing pay gap is contributing to acute labour shortages, which is seriously affecting the delivery of public services such as healthcare and education. This disparity has lead to widespread industrial action in the UK in recent months. In the year to October 2022, private sector pay increased by 6.8% compared with only a 2.9% increase for the public sector. The government is worried about wage increases pushing up inflation that is already sky-high, but recent data shows that giving these workers more pay is unlikely to have that effect. The UK government has not yet resolved the thorny issue of ongoing public sector pay disputes, despite the fact that these workers are suffering much more from the cost of living crisis than their private sector counterparts.
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