Aldi store colleagues in Edinburgh & The Lothians are to get a pay rise, which will see Aldi become the first supermarket in the UK to guarantee store and warehouse colleagues pay of at least £12 an hour.
This move makes Aldi the first supermarket to offer rates in line with the Real Living Wage that was set by the Living Wage Foundation in October this year.
Store Assistants’ pay will rise further to £12.95 nationally, and £13.85 within the M25, based on the length of service as part of Aldi’s £67m investment into colleague pay.
Aldi is also the only supermarket to offer paid breaks, which for the average store colleague is worth an additional £900 annually.
Giles Hurley, Chief Executive Officer of Aldi UK and Ireland, said: “Just as we promise to provide the best value to our customers, we are also committed to being the highest-paying supermarket within the sector – which is why we are investing more than ever into this pay rise.
“We are incredibly proud of every single member of Team Aldi and this is a way of thanking them for all their hard work over the past year. We believe our colleagues are the best in the sector and they play a huge part in making Aldi what it is today.”
The news comes in just as Aldi has been named the UK’s Cheapest Supermarket, according to consumer champion Which? (November 2023). Aldi was also named the UK’s Cheapest Supermarket in both 2021 and 2022.
Aldi’s commitment to being the cheapest supermarket shows no sign of slowing, having made over £360m of price reductions across 800 items so far this year.
Aldi is the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket and has more than 1,000 stores, 11 regional distribution centres and 40,000 colleagues across Britain.
If I have one message for this government at the start of 2022, it is this: Britain needs a pay rise (writes TUC General Secretary FRANCES O’GRADY).
Families are bracing themselves for a cost of living storm in 2022. Bills are rising – fuel and energy bills fastest of all. Millions of working households have been hit by the cut to universal credit – and will be hit this year by the hike to national insurance.
As the Omicron variant sweeps through the country, over-worked and under-paid staff in the NHS and public services are put under intolerable strain. Industries like travel, hospitality and entertainment hit by government guidance need help targeted at protecting pay packets, not just business profits. And with self-isolation rates sky-high, too many families will be forced to survive on measly sick pay of just £96 per week – or no sick pay at all.
Our economy will only recover when working people can afford to spend in local shops and businesses. That’s the way to boost demand, grow the economy and protect jobs.
This Conservative government has had eleven years to get wages rising. And they have failed, over and over again.
We are still in the longest period of pay stagnation since the Napoleonic wars. Real wages for millions are less than they were before the bankers’ crisis in 2008.
And, unless ministers act now, the future looks bleak. Real wages are set to barely move between now and 2026. They will go up by a miserable £760 in total – about £150 a year.
So, in 2022, we need a long-term economic plan to get wages rising across the economy. If we could get real wage growth to mirror the average growth in the ten years before the global financial crash, real wages would grow by £500 per year – leaving workers £2500 per year better off by 2026.
If this Conservative government had achieved that over the past lost decade, workers would be around £8,000 better off today in real terms.
As always, the best way to get wages rising is to give workers the power to bargain for better pay from their employers.
Ministers should get round the table with unions and employers to hammer out sector-wide fair pay agreements – and every employer should be bound by them.
Take social care – where more than three in five are still paid less than £10 per hour. Let’s make every social care employer in the country sit down and negotiate fair wages with unions representing social care workers. And let’s make every employer in that sector pay the wage negotiated. That’s how we keep dedicated people working in social care – and reward them fairly.
Fair pay agreements work all over the world. And they could work here too. They are a sensible, modern solution to the problems of staff shortages, low skills, and low pay. And they will stop a race to the bottom on pay and conditions.
2022 is also the time for a new deal for working people. In 2022, let’s raise the minimum wage to at least £10 per hour immediately, ban the zero hours contracts that trap workers in poverty and insecurity, outlaw fire and rehire, and end outsourcing.
Key workers, who went beyond the call of duty, are exhausted and demoralised. If ministers can fast-track lucrative Covid contracts to their mates, they can afford to give hardworking key workers the real pay rise they have earned. Or we’ll see yet more dangerous staffing gaps open up in our precious public services.
The government can’t sit this wages crisis out. The pandemic showed us that our society keeps functioning because of the dedication of ordinary women and men, going to work day in day out.
After decades of real wage cuts and falling living standards, no one can seriously say working people don’t deserve a pay rise.
That’s my priority, and the priority of the whole union movement, in 2022. The prime minister should shape up and make it his priority too.
I wish you, your family and workmates happiness, good health and security in 2022 and always.
The Scottish Government has announced a 3% uplift for NHS medical and dental staff, in recognition of their efforts during the pandemic.
This is in line with the recommendation of the independent UK Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration.
The pay uplift will be backdated to 1 April 2021.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “This pay award is in recognition of an exceptional year for all of our NHS workers and reflects the immense value we place on the continued hard work and dedication of medical and dental staff.
“This announcement means that our senior medical staff will continue to be the best paid in the UK. As well as rewarding them for their efforts during the pandemic, it will help to ensure that NHS Scotland remains an attractive employment option for medical and dental staff.”
The announcement covers three main staff groups not covered by the Agenda for Change pay deal – NHS Scotland Medical and Dental (M&D) staff; General Medical Practitioners (GMPs) and General Dental Practitioners (GDPs).
Agenda for Change employees have already been awarded a deal providing minimum pay uplifts of 4% to all but the highest-earning staff.
Dentists: Government must apply full pay award
The British Dental Association has called on the Scottish Government to confirm that the recently announced 3% pay award for dentists will be applied to practitioners’ overall remuneration package to avoid front line staff potentially being left out of pocket and practices struggling to invest to improve care.
Historically in Scotland the recommended uplift has not applied to all dentists allowances and payments, meaning the overall awards often fall short of the pay review body’s recommendations.
Last year the Scottish Government did not apply the recommended 2.8% uplift to practice allowances – which make up around 16% of practice income – leaving an overall increase of less than the review body’s recommendations. The BDA estimates that the net award for that year was around 2.3%.
While one-off support to fund improvements in ventilation has been offered by the Scottish Government, NHS dentists do not routinely receive capital investment. These earnings serve to fund all improvements in equipment, training, and facilities for NHS practices.
Scottish Government officials have stated they will provide details of how the package will operate in due course. The BDA is calling for the 3% uplift to be applied to the full remuneration package.
David McColl, Chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee said:“The Scottish Government’s announcement has left key questions unanswered.
“This uplift will do little to correct a decade of austerity, and not all of this increase may actually reach dentists, who rely on their earnings to invest in their practices.
“In the recent election, Ministers put dentistry front and centre in their pitch for government. If they are going to deliver on their promises they shouldn’t be short-changing front line practitioners.”
An NHS pay deal which offers an average increase of 4% will be immediately implemented after the majority of NHS unions voted to accept the biggest pay uplift since devolution.
The increase covers 16 months, having been backdated to 1 December 2020 in recognition of an exceptional year of significant pressure for staff. This comes on top of the £500 thank you payment for health and social care workers.
Benefiting around 154,000 employees covered by the ‘Agenda for Change’ NHS pay and grading system – including nurses, paramedics and allied health professionals, as well as domestic staff, porters and healthcare support staff plus other front line health workers – this is the most generous increase anywhere in the UK. Staff should expect to receive payments, including the backdated uplift, this summer.
Staff on pay bands 1 to 7, almost 95% of Agenda for Change staff, will receive at least a 4% pay rise compared to 2020/21. This means those on the lowest Agenda for Change pay point will get a 5.4% increase and those on the highest pay points will receive uplifts of £800.
The UK Government’s submission to the NHS Pay Review body (PRB) provided for a £250 uplift for staff earning less than £24,000 and 1% for all other NHS Agenda for Change staff. Assuming the Department of Health in England maintains its current position, staff in Scotland will be considerably better off in 2021-22.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am delighted that unions representing a majority of NHS staff have voted to accept our offer of a pay rise of 4% on average.
“We all rely on the hard work and dedication of NHS Scotland, and never more so than during this pandemic. This pay rise, the biggest pay uplift for NHS staff since devolution recognises the unwavering commitment of NHS Scotland staff.
“If the Department of Health sticks with the offer it has proposed, staff in Scotland will be considerably better off in 2021-22 than their counterparts in England.
“This has been an exceptionally challenging year for our health service and I am delighted that the Scottish Government has been able to recognise the service and dedication of our healthcare staff. On behalf of us all, thank you for all you have done and for all you continue to do.”
On 24 March the Scottish Government announced a pay offer for Action for Change employees which unions agreed to take to staff. The pay offer is:
Bands 1 – 4: a flat uplift of £1,009
Bands 5 – 7: a 4% uplift
Bands 8a – 8c: a 2% uplift
Bands 8D – 9: a flat uplift of £800
NHS staff side met on May 12th following the closure of the staff ballot on the Agenda for Change pay deal. Seven of the nine unions representing AfC staff have voted to accept the deal. While support for the deal was not unanimous, a clear majority of staff who voted wish to accept it.
British Dietetic Association
Accept
College of Podiatrists
Accept
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
Accept
GMB
Reject
RCM
Accept
RCN
Reject
Society of Radiographers
Accept
UNISON
Accept
Unite
Accept
Assuming the Department of Health in England maintains its current position, staff in Scotland will be considerably better off in 2021-22:
Pay for a porter at the top of Band 2 will be over £2,028 more
Pay for a healthcare assistant at the top of Band 3 will be over £2,211 more
Pay for a healthcare support worker at the top of Band 4 will be over £1,583 more
Pay for a ward nurse at the top of Band 5 will be over £1,994 more
Pay for a paramedic at the top of Band 6 will be nearly £2,467 more
Pay for an advanced nurse practitioner at the top of Band 7 will be over £2,898 more.
Agenda for Change is the NHS pay system for all staff directly employed by NHS Health Boards with the exception of Medical and Dental staff who are within the remit of the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body, and Executive and Senior Management staff. Across the UK, the system applies to over one million NHS staff and in NHS Scotland approximately 154,000 NHS Staff are on these terms and conditions of service.
Teacher back at school after covid-19 quarantine and lockdown, disinfecting desks at break time.
The pay offer made to Scotland’s teachers and associated professionals is “completely inadequate” and “fails to recognise the value of teachers to Scotland”, says Scotland’s largest teaching union.
The EIS also expressed its frustration at the slow rate of negotiations on the teachers’ pay claim, which was submitted in December last year. The lengthy delay in the employers initially responding to the teachers’ pay claim, together with slow progress in subsequent discussions, meant that Scotland’s teachers did not receive a pay settlement by the scheduled implementation date of the 1st of April.
No improvement was made at a negotiating meeting held yesterday, with employers sticking to their pay offer which averages a little over 1% if it were to be distributed on a universal basis amongst Scotland’s teachers.
EIS Salaries Convener Des Morris said, “The value of Scotland’s teachers has been clearly highlighted throughout the current pandemic, where teachers have worked extremely hard to support young people in quite unprecedented and extremely challenging circumstances.
“The level of public and political praise for teachers has been extremely high during this time, with frequent statements highlighting the value of teachers to the country throughout lockdown and the essential role that education will play in supporting the national recovery from the Covid pandemic. In this context, the pay offer that has been made to teachers – which would represent a real-terms pay cut for the majority of teachers – is completely inadequate.”
Mr Morris continued: “Last December, the teachers’ side of the SNCT (Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers) submitted a very measured claim for a pay settlement of between 3% and 5% for Scotland’s teachers.
“Now, more than 3 months later, we are looking at an offer from employers for a 1% pay settlement for the majority of teachers. This sub-inflation level pay offer would result in an effective pay cut for Scotland’s teachers – hardly an appropriate recognition of the important role that teachers have played throughout the pandemic and the vital role they will play in the national recovery from Covid.
“The offer is also divisive, offering different pay settlements for teachers based on their grade of post – something that the EIS will never accept.”
Mr Morris added, “The difference between the offer made to Scotland’s teachers and that made recently to the country’s NHS workers is glaring.
“Our NHS colleagues are absolutely deserving of a fair pay settlement that properly recognises the vital work that they do – but Scotland’s teachers and, indeed, other public sector workers also deserve to have their vital contributions property recognised.
“The pay offer that has been made to Scotland’s teachers is inadequate and divisive, and therefore completely unacceptable.”
UNISON, Scotland’s biggest health union, will hold socially distanced demonstrations across Scotland tomorrow (18 August). The demonstrations are the next stage in UNISON’s campaign for a pay rise for NHS staff.
UNISON Pay up Now campaign is thanking the public and asking them for their continued support for a NHS pay rise.
The trade union is calling on the Scottish Government to reopen the NHS three year pay deal, and for ministers to sit down with the trade unions to discuss a pay rise for all NHS staff.
NHS staff have had real term pay cuts over the last decade with significant extra costs over this pandemic. Including extra childcare costs because they are working extra shifts, extra transport costs because of restricted public transport, extra costs because they have being isolating from family, or even extra laundry costs and buying personal PPE.
NHS staff have been working long hours and many report being mentally and physically exhausted. Their response to this pandemic has been heroic.
Tom Waterson, chair of UNISON Scotland health committee said:“UNISON are organising socially distanced demonstrations across Scotland on Tuesday 18 August to show the strength of feeling of NHS staff about pay.
“The public support for our heroic NHS workers throughout this pandemic has been amazing. Thursday night clapping was hugely appreciated by health workers across the UK.
“However the reality is that NHS workers have seen their pay eroded over the past decade and some NHS staff are amongst the lower paid in Scotland. So please continue your support for NHS workers. They deserve it.”
