Pay review bodies: their past and their future
A report produced with the support of the GFTU, NEU and POA
'Pay review bodies: their past and their future' written by Dr Andrew Moretta
Against a backdrop of 44 years of political attacks on trade unions and collective bargaining, workers in some sectors were initially better off under Pay Review Body (PRB) structures. However, over time successive governments have exerted undue influence over the independence of PRBs, until their recommendations became no more than options for the government to either accept or dispense with as they saw fit. This trend has also insulated the government from immediate embarrassment over its austerity real-terms pay cuts in the public sector.
Dr Andrew Moretta takes us through the history of PRBs; when they should be used under international law; when they shouldn’t be implemented, and the evolving history of how they have inadvertently become a political trojan horse for successive neo-liberal governments to degrade real-terms wages, and undermine collective bargaining in various sectors even further. The author finishes by making a list of practical recommendations which should help restore independence and due process to existing PRBs where they are appropriate, and, in cases where the workers concerned are illegitimately denied the right to bargain collectively, allow the representative unions to be able to revert rapidly to collective bargaining.
Read the full report
We extend our sincerest thank to the GFTU, NEU and POA. Without their kind support this project would not have been possible.
