Three quick thoughts on regional pay
As regional pay is in the news, here are my three quick thoughts on the matter:
1. Regional pay already exists in the public sector; I know because I used to receive different pay from colleagues in the same job and on the same pay-scale point elsewhere in the country. In my case, it was called “London weighting”. The sensible question therefore is not “should there be regional pay?” but “is our current system of regional pay perfect, and if not how should it be changed?”
2. Regional pay does not have to mean regional pay bargaining. Regional pay can go along with national pay bargaining if you don’t want to use it as a tool to weaken employee negotiating power (though if you do, chances are you’ll call it weakening of the power of trade union bosses).
3. Regions are a poor unit to use if improving public services is a major aim. For example “London” includes both Tower Hamlets and Kensington. If you want to let a school in the most deprived area pay teachers more in order to attract the highest quality staff they often otherwise lose out on to other areas, you don’t just need to vary London pay compared to the rest of the country. You need to allow pay in Tower Hamlets to be higher than for Kensington. Some teachers love the challenge and greater purpose of teaching in the toughest schools, but generally flat pay rates mean teachers are more attracted to those schools where teaching is easiest rather than attracting the best to the schools where the kids need the best teachers the most.
I belong to a trade union. It never negotiates national or regional deals, or indeed with employers at all. It has consistently won for me above average rates of pay and pretty decent pay increases. It's called the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
That national pay bargaining is a good deal for employees is a bit of a myth. Actually it the Treasury's method of choice for keeping a lid on pay everywhere. Trade unions go along with it because it makes them look important.
Still, where staff frequently transfer from one part of the country to another (like the NHS) there is something to be said for national pay structures. But mostly they hold pay down rather than push it up.
ICAEW is far from being a trade union; that quite apart, it is sad that you have felt the need to so blatantly lie in this post. One wonders how truthfuul you were in previous posts
Michael Rodgers I think ICAEW is a different form of trade union. I'm also very disappointed that you think I'm lying. Mistaken, maybe. Pushing it, certainly. But I'm convinced that what I am saying is essentially true.
Matthew Green Sorry, didn't mean to be offensive. Probably I overreacted. Forgive me.
Michael Rodgers Sorry if I was being over the top and insensitive.
Matthew Green It's not you, it's me (how common is that expression !)