Federation secretary renews calls for fair deal on pay

2 March 2023

West Mercia Police Federation secretary Pete Nightingale has renewed his calls for a fair pay deal for members amid reports that public sector workers will be offered a 3.5 per cent rise this year.

Pete said members had endured real-terms pay cuts for more than a decade and that the next award should take into account the unique role police officers play in society along with their legally-binding Crown Servant status which forbids them from taking industrial action.

And he suggested the time might have come for officers to consider seeking a law change that would enable them to withdraw their labour without fear of prosecution.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has already called for a 10 per cent pay rise for police officers and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has also urged the Government to take the role police officers play into account ahead of this year’s pay public sector pay round.

Pete said: “Doctors, nurses, paramedics and teachers are all in the middle of industrial disputes on a scale we have not seen in the public sector for many years.

“Years of cuts and underfunding have led to workers across the board feeling taken for granted and undervalued and this has now come to a head with an unprecedented series of strikes.

“The grievances of our public sector colleagues are very much in line with our own but of course police officers are forbidden by law to go on strike or work to rule and that is where our situation becomes very different from theirs.

“And for that reason the Police Federation is calling on the Government to acknowledge the unique position police officers hold in society, recognise they have taken an oath as servants of the Crown and make sure they are treated fairly when it comes to pay and conditions.”

The legal bar on police officers taking industrial action dates back more than a century to the end of the First World War.

The Police Act of 1919 founded the Police Federation of England and Wales and saw the creation of the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) and the Police Arbitration Tribunal (PAT).

The act was brought about by the government of the day in response to a strike by police officers over pay and working hours.

The cost of living had more than doubled between 1914 and 1918 but police had received a pay rise of only three shillings over the same period and most serving officers were working extremely long hours as others had been drafted into the armed forces.

At breaking point, the National Union of Police and Prison Officers called a strike, and in August 1918 Met officers marched on Whitehall, and then Downing Street. 

The shock of a police strike brought terms instantly, one of the results of which was the formation of the Police Federation of England and Wales in statute and the outlawing of a Police Union.

As a vital public service, it was felt that if police officers were to withhold their labour, the impact would be catastrophic for society. This restriction on officers’ ability to unionise and act in their collective interest was recognised and the government which promised to ensure the police have access to fair negotiation on pay and binding arbitration brought about in the PAT and PNB. 

In a blog, Federation National Board member Dave Bamber said: “Today we see circumstances mirroring those of 1918 but with conditions made considerably worse by years of underinvestment and under recruitment and increasing demands. 

“So, while police officers cannot strike, we understand the frustration that leads others to do so. We recognise it only too well when our police officers are suffering a real terms pay cut of 28.7 per cent.”

Dave said members’ sense of duty and service meant the thought of strike action would be anathema to them. 

“We have seen reports of nurses and paramedics leaving their picket lines to care for members of the public who need help, a vocation officers share and one that would be hard to leave for the sake of a strike,” he said.

“I have heard police officers say we should have a right to strike. But they need to also ask themselves, could we, would we and what would happen if we did?”

But Pete warned: “We cannot continue to be treated like this and fighting for the right to strike may be the only option left to us”