Officers Vote To Pursue Industrial Rights

10 July 2024

Police officers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of their Federation representatives campaigning for collective bargaining on pay.

More than 50,000 officers responded to a poll run by the Police Federation of England and Wales asking them whether they should pursue negotiation with binding arbitration when determining police pay.

And an astonishing 97.7% of those polled agreed that the PFEW should pursue such rights.

Zoë Wakefield, Chair of Hampshire Police Federation, said the result showed that officers want to be paid fairly for their demanding role.

She said: “The result of this poll shows that police officers around the country feel strongly about having a fair mechanism for determining their pay.

“Successive governments have not recognised the unique status of the office of Constable or the risks that officers take every single day.

“The Government has taken advantage of police officers because we cannot take industrial action. This poll shows that officers have had enough and want to be paid fairly for the challenging job they do.

“No one comes into policing for the money. We just want a fair process for determining our pay without interference from the government.”

Calum Macleod, PFEW National Secretary, added: “This strong mandate from the membership sets us up to negotiate with the new government a fair and binding pay mechanism.

“Thank you to those who participated. PFEW’s National Council and National Board will begin creating a campaign for the introduction of a fair and binding pay mechanism on the behalf of our members.

“We realise a political agreement to change process can take time, but a new Government allows us the opportunity to take a fresh view on those issues that matter most to our members. We will keep you updated with progress.”

The poll, which ran from 3-21 June for Federated members, received 50,103 responses, with 97.7% in favour of wanting PFEW to campaign for collective bargaining with binding arbitration.