It seems that hardly a day goes by without news of pay deals, or disputes, hitting the headlines. In the past few weeks there have been reports of proposed above-inflation pay rises for MPs, as well as plans for long-term deals across the public sector.
Many private sector workers have benefited from being locked into long-term awards linked to headline inflation during the autumn. The prime minister's incentive, however, is to use long-term pay deals to help control inflation. As expected, unions have expressed concern that such deals will be at the expense of employees.
At a traditionally quiet time in the bargaining calendar, rises linked to the minimum wage and inflation have helped to push up pay settlements ahead of the busy new year bargaining round. In the period between October and December 2007, pay settlements reached a median of 3.7%.
However, an early review of January pay deals reveals that they have already fallen back to 3.5%. Public sector pay deals set against a 2% CPI inflation target will serve to further rein back our headline measure of pay awards in the spring.
This is my first e-newsletter and I'm very excited by the developments that have been made to Pay and Benefits Bulletin in the year I've been away. Thanks to Sarah Welfare for seeing the changes through in my absence. |
