UNIONS representing council and school support staff insisted today that they should get a minimum £3,000 pay rise next year.

Unison, Unite and GMB called for a rise of at least £3,000 or 10 per cent, whichever is greater, as well as a  minimum hourly rate of £15 per hour in a joint local government pay claim for 2026/27.

They say that the real value of local government pay has fallen by more than 26 per cent since 2010.

Unison head of local government Mike Short said: “Council and school staff have endured years of poor pay settlements while demands on local services have grown.

“A significant wage rise is essential, so communities can continue to receive the support they rely on each day.”

Unite national officer Clare Keogh said: “Local authorities are the backbone of our communities, but their hard-working members of staff have endured years of real-terms pay cuts as more pressure is piled on to services.”

Councils will overall receive a £5 billion funding boost for local services over the next three years, in the first multi-year funding settlement in a decade.

Unions have said employers should consider a multi-year pay settlement for council and school staff in line with this.

GMB national officer Kevin Brandstatter said that a recent poll of the union’s local government members found nearly 90 per cent said they would be prepared to take strike action over their pay settlement.

For 2025/26, council and school staff, which include cleaners, librarians, care workers and refuse collectors, were awarded a 3.2 per cent pay rise. 

The three unions had submitted a claim for a £3,000 rise for 2025/26.