Members on NJC (council and school) pay will want to know where the 2026 pay round has landed, so here’s an update combining this week’s meeting between the three NJC unions (UNISON, GMB and Unite) with the national message that’s gone out to members.
The ballot and the reluctant accept decision
Over the past six weeks, more than 200,000 UNISON members working in councils and schools across England and Cymru were balloted for industrial action over the employers’ offer of a 3.3% pay increase for 2026/27. Thank you to everyone who took part in the vote, and thank you for your patience while we’ve awaited the outcome. We know how frustrating it is to be left waiting on pay news.
While the votes that were returned were overwhelmingly in favour of action, turnout did not cross the 50% threshold in enough employers to give us the mandate needed to push for a better offer. On that basis, alongside GMB and Unite, UNISON has taken a “reluctantly accept” position on the 2026 pay offer. All three unions noted that the employers had refused to re-enter negotiations after we asked them to.
What happens next
The joint unions have now written to individual employers asking them to implement the 3.3% uplift, backdated to 1 April, as soon as possible. A joint NJC circular setting this out formally is also being drawn up and is expected to be issued early next week, with a branch circular to follow shortly after covering the update in more detail.
Attention now turns to the 2027 pay round. UNISON wants to get the claim in as soon as possible to secure the best possible offer for next year, and members will be consulted on what they’d like to see in it, so look out for communication from the branch during the autumn.
When will backdated pay reach East Sussex?
Even with backdating confirmed to 1 April, it’s not yet clear exactly when the money will reach members locally, as this will depend on individual employers’ payroll processes. Based on previous pay rounds, backpay for Single Status staff has typically been processed around October/November, with LMG (Local Managerial Grade) staff usually following later, around January/February the next year. We’ll update this page as soon as we have confirmed dates from employers.
Backpay, Universal Credit and student loans
There has been some encouraging news from Rochdale, where UNISON has had success in mitigating the negative impact that a lump sum backpay payment can have on members receiving Universal Credit, and on student loan repayments. This has been a real concern for members in our area too, and progress on it has not been easy to come by.
We’re seeking more detail on how the Rochdale arrangement was achieved. If you’ve negotiated something similar with your employer, or have been affected by this issue yourself, we’d like to hear from you.
We’ll keep members updated as more information comes through.
Read more: Council staff will no longer be out of pocket when receiving backpay, says UNISON