Support staff pay claim

Local government unions representing 1.4m council and school employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are demanding a decent wage rise as they submit their annual pay claim.

This year’s joint union pay claim from Unison, Unite and GMB, which would apply from this April, is for all council employees to receive a wage rise of £3,000 on all pay points for 2025-26, which would apply to staff working full time. The payment would apply pro-rata for those working part time.

In the 2025/26 pay claim, the unions also call for a minimum hourly rate of £15, an extra day of annual leave, a reduction of two hours in the working week and for school staff to have the right to take at least one day of leave within term time.