UK finance minister hints at above-inflation pay rises for public sector workers

21/7/2024 17:08

        Britain's new finance minister Rachel Reeves said she will consider giving inflation-busting pay increases for almost 2 million government employees later this month to avoid crippling public sector strikes.
        
        Two pay review bodies who advise the government have recommended a 5.5% wage rise for 460,000 teachers and 1.4 million staff in the state-run National Health Service, according to media reports.
        
        Asked if the government would approve those pay rises, Reeves said she valued public service workers and warned there is a "cost" to long battles with unions that undermined the last government's efforts to improve public services.
        
        "I really value public service workers, in our schools, in our hospitals, in our police as well," Reeves told the BBC. "There is a cost to not settling, a cost of further industrial action, and a cost in terms of the challenge we face recruiting."