Unite postpones strike and will ballot members after agreement with Govt 

Unite the Union has postponed its public sector strike action, due to commence next Thursday, after reaching an agreement with the Gibraltar Government focused primarily on recovering real-term salary losses due in recent years.  

The agreement was reached at a meeting in No.6 Convent Place yesterday and Unite will now conduct a further ballot of union members. 

Unite and the Government had continued to meet after the ballot of industrial action, aiming to find a resolution to the dispute. 

The Government has maintained that there remains no scope to improve the public sector pay proposal announced at Budget 2025.  

For its part, Unite has continued to raise that the central tenet of their public sector pay claim 2025/26 was around the recovery of the real-terms losses in pay across this and successive pay rounds, as well as raising structural issues around the minimum entry salary.  

The parties agreed that the process of negotiation around Pay 2025/26 was not, for constitutional issues related to the treaty, where either Government or the union would have wanted it structurally, in detail and in frequency, which needed addressing for future pay rounds, they said in a joint statement. 

The parties also recognised that the purchasing power of public sector wages had been significantly eroded by external factors.  

As such, the parties agreed they would have wanted to see the public sector pay proposal for 2025/26 to have gone further had it not been for financial constraints.  

Following previous and the most recent dialogue between the Government of Gibraltar and Unite, the joint statement said the following had been agreed between the parties to resolve the dispute, subject to a ballot of members to accept the terms of the dispute resolution: 

• The parties commit to a clear timeline of monthly negotiation meetings to commence in September 2025 with the shared commitment of those meetings focused on negotiations to recover the real terms losses in pay since August 2019 in full. 
• That shared commitment will necessarily require detailed negotiations to ensure that the process of the full recovery of real-terms losses in pay is managed sustainably across a binding, multi-year agreement commencing at Pay 2026/27. 
• As part of the clear timeline of negotiations, a roadmap of meetings and milestones through that negotiation process will be agreed. 
• The minimum entry salary in the public sector will be increased in line with the parity principles to reflect the minimum entry salary in the public sector in the UK, which is currently £24,413.00. Anyone currently earning below that figure would see pay increased to that level and backdated to April 1 2025. 
• The negotiation framework will commence with an agreement on Terms of Reference which will consist of a number of elements as well as public sector pay, including a review of pay differentials through the grades and how the future application of the minimum entry salary in the UK will be applied including backdating to April 1 each year.  
• Further work will be undertaken jointly by the parties on the other elements of the Unite the Union pay claim where announcements were made at Budget 2025, namely the Living Wage Commission, the use of Zero Hours Contacts in both the public and private sectors, plus the matter of the minimum wage. 
• The parties also have agreed to address the broader industrial relationship between the Government of Gibraltar and Unite the Union with a view to improving this to the betterment of those living and working in Gibraltar and the union’s members.

PAY ROADMAP

In a separate developmeny, the Gibraltar Government and public sector unions agreed on a new roadmap yesterday to address salary erosion over recent years. 

The agreement was set out in a joint statement issued by the Gibraltar Government and Unite, the GGCA, the GPF and Gibraltar NASUWT.  

“The Government of Gibraltar and all public sector Unions acknowledge the genuine concerns that have arisen in recent years regarding the erosion of public sector purchasing power, driven by global inflation and successive economic shocks,” the joint statement read. 

“All parties agree that this reality must be addressed responsibly and collaboratively, in the interests of public servants and the wider community.” 

“The parties recognise that this year’s public sector pay award, announced in the 2025 Budget, represents only the beginning of a process to correct that imbalance.” 

“Nonetheless, it is an important step: the second largest public sector pay rise in Gibraltar’s history; although it is agreed that the parties would have wanted to see the public sector pay proposal for 2025/26 to have gone further had it not been for financial constraints.” 

“While constitutional and fiscal constraints limited the breadth of consultation in this year’s process, all parties recognise the need for deeper, earlier engagement in future.”  

“The Unions have been briefed on the Government’s intention to approach public sector pay over a longer horizon and welcomes the commitment to sustained, structured dialogue.” 

“To that end, all parties commit to a clear timeline of constructive monthly meetings with engagement and negotiations beginning in September up until the 2026 Budget session, with the shared commitment of restoring real-terms value in public sector pay.” 

“A revised roadmap of milestones will be shared and agreed with the Unions, and will form the basis of future Public Sector Pay Rise negotiations.” 

“Above all, all parties remain committed to ensuring that Gibraltar’s public servants are supported, valued, and fairly rewarded for the vital work they do, now and in the years to come.”