Industrial Rights Are Needed For Police Officers

Royston MartisUncategorized

South Yorkshire Police Federation has pledged to be ‘front and centre’ in the fight for industrial rights for police officers.

Steve Kent, Federation Chair, has called for binding arbitration for police officers to make the pay mechanism absolutely fair and free from political interference.

Steve was talking after Acting National Chair Tiff Lynch told the inaugural  FedConnect meeting that the current pay mechanism is flawed.

Tiff said: ‘The Government can set the parameters for what the pay review body may consider and the Government isn’t bound by the recommendations. A much fairer system is one that involves collective bargaining.’

Backing Tiff’s statement, Steve said: ‘I have been at the front and centre since the beginning of this in terms of industrial rights, which now has widespread support among federations.

‘I thank our colleagues in other branches, like Richie Cooke in the West Midlands, who is also pushing this forward. We need, as a bare minimum, binding arbitration for police officers, which makes the pay mechanisms absolutely fair.

‘Let’s get that and then once we’ve got that we can review the position. Cops, even though they’re voting overwhelmingly for industrial rights, have been forced into this position by year after year pay degradation compared to our colleagues elsewhere in the public sector. It’s not right, it’s not fit for purpose, and until it is, I’m going to continue being front and centre, campaigning for more industrial rights for our officers.’

Tiff told the officers at the meeting: ‘There has been much work ongoing as to how collective bargaining could look. This includes whether the current pay review system could allow some form of negotiation, rather than merely taking evidence from organisations.

We have made very clear to government that the restrictions on your lives – both professional and personal – and your inability to take industrial action, must be recognised. And this means having a fair pay mechanism that you can have confidence in.’