A senior Police Federation Chair has reiterated concerns that officers feel \u201cdevalued\u201d by this year\u2019s pay award.<\/p>\n
Police were offered a 4.75% pay rise by the Government earlier this year, an offer that was lower than deals made with other public sector workers.<\/p>\n
Steve Kent, the Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said it was a \u201ckick in the teeth for cops\u201d and they had struggled to accept it.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt really does tie in with the need to really push the button on industrial rights and really turn the screw on it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to keep the momentum going up. It\u2019s all calmed down a little bit after the vote and it seems to have gone quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to push this again and we need to start even exploring about the second vote if we\u2019re not going to get any collective bargaining.\u201d<\/p>\n
Home Office figures showed officers leaving the service has hit a record high of 5,000 \u2013 or 3.4% of the workforce.<\/p>\n
Steve said policing was \u201cnot worth it\u201d if people were looking to join forces for the money \u2013 and this was having a knock-on effect.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIt does have a massive impact on the quality of people we\u2019re necessarily going to attract and retain if people don\u2019t think their pay is matching inflation like it should do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can be done to arrest the slide with that one? Well, pay us better.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s have a proper, long conversation about long-term repair to police pay and take it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n