Following the CBI’s call for an immediate freeze of public sector wages for two years, Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales Central, Leanne Wood said:
“Public sector workers are being asked to bear the brunt of the UK’s spending deficit. It was not council workers on the minimum wage that got us into this precarious financial position – it was the casino capitalism of the banking elite.
“They played roulette with the financial markets and lost heavily and now everybody else has to pick up the tab.
“Frontline services should not be made suffer. The CBI argues that the private sector has been subject to pay freezes over recent years but they fail to acknowledge the tough pay constraints that have been placed on public sector workers in recent years, which have failed to keep up with inflation. They have seen a drop in wages in real terms.”
Ms Wood added: “The CBI has asserted that the private sector should be brought in to take over some of the services currently provided by the public sector.
“There are plenty of examples of where privatisation of public services has been disastrous and to the detriment of efficiency and customer service. Their argument simply does not stack up if they say it is about making savings.
“Many public sector departments are hitting their tough targets and punching above their weight and, in such cases, it is difficult to see how private involvement with the introduction of a profit motive could result in savings.”
