Sir Keir Starmer has said he does not want to see public sector workers strike over pay, arguing there is a “much better way of doing business”.
The prime minister was speaking after The Times reported that teachers had been recommended for a near 4% pay rise and NHS workers close to 3% by the two relevant independent pay review bodies.
Care minister Stephen Kinnock said on Monday that the government had now received the recommendations and would give them “very careful consideration”.
Asked about the possibility of strikes, Sir Keir told broadcasters at a health centre: “I don’t want to see strike action, I don’t think anybody wants to see strike action.
“And certainly here we are in a healthcare environment with all the staff working really hard. The last thing they want to do is to go into dispute again.
“We solved disputes, we are working with the NHS. It’s because of the way that we are working with the NHS that we are able to bring waiting lists down and make other announcements today.”
He added: “What I think we are proving here – what I hope we are proving – is if you work with the NHS staff, you get better results than the last government, which just went into battle with them.
“So, we have got our doctors and nurses on the front line, not the picket line, and I think everybody appreciates that’s a much better way of doing business.”
According to The Times, teachers and NHS workers in England have been told to expect a pay rise of close to 4% and 3%, respectively.
The figures are higher than the 2.8% the government has offered – meaning it must now decide whether to increase its offer in line with the pay review bodies, as it did last year.
But Downing Street was clear on Monday that the government would not be providing any extra funding for increases above 2.8%.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “There’ll be no additional funding for pay if recommended awards exceed what departments can afford.”
Speaking to Wilfred Frost on Sky News Breakfast, Mr Kinnock also urged trade unions to “engage constructively with us”.
“We’ve received the recommendation of the pay review body and we will give that very careful consideration,” he said.
He said the government was “all about putting more money into the pockets of working people”, citing how the junior doctors’ strike was resolved when they accepted a government pay offer worth an extra 22.3% on average over two years.
But he added: “We also have to ensure that we are balancing the books, and we’ve got to work – in terms of public sector pay – within fiscal constraints.
“So of course we will give these recommendations careful consideration, but I would, of course, also urge our colleagues in the trade union movement to engage constructively with us and recognise the reality of the financial position.”
Striking members of the National Education Union (NEU) last year. Pic: PA
The decision of the independent pay review bodies to recommend pay rises higher than the government offer presents a headache for Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is already grappling with the impact of Donald Trump’s punitive tariff regime.
Ms Reeves will need to balance her promise to keep spending within certain fiscal constraints with the government’s long-term ambition to improve public services – seen as crucial to Labour’s electoral success.
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Unions have already signalled they are prepared to go on strike again if the government does not increase its offer of 2.8%.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the figure amounted to “as little as £2 extra a day” – while the British Medical Association (BMA) accused Labour of failing to grasp unresolved issues from two years of strikes under the Tories.
Last week, Sky News reported the National Education Union, the largest teaching union in the UK, drew up plans for strike action while it waited to learn the outcome of the School Teachers’ Review Body report into pay.
The NEU, led by general secretary Daniel Kebede, has rejected the government’s 2.8% pay offer as “unacceptable” and “unfunded”.
Instead, the union is calling for a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise – although it has not put a figure on the proposal it would like to receive.
