Staff at the British Library (BL) have voted to accept a 3 year pay offer that is significantly below the cost of living. The trade unions (PCS & Prospect) finally received an offer from BL management after a delay of 9 months, due entirely to management's decision to postpone all pay talks until the outcome of the government's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).
 
The offer involves a basic increase of 2% in 2007/08, 1.75% in 2008/09 and 1.8% in 2009/10, with up to an additional 1.5% each year based on performance. This will mean a pay increase of little more than £30 a month for the majority of staff and with inflation (Retail Price Index) running at 3.8% in March, represents a pay cut in real terms. The underpin (a guaranteed minimum annual increase to all staff) has been cut from £600 to £450. Management began the pay negotiations offering no underpin and it was only through the efforts of PCS reps that a minimum increase was guaranteed. The offer also significantly increases the amount of money available for non consolidated performance bonuses, dividing staff by benefiting a small minority and increasing the pressure to exceed existing targets and job objectives.
 
Why did staff vote to accept an offer that will cut their standard of living over the next 3 years? The main reason seemed to be that a 3 year deal will result in pay increases (however small!) being paid on time. There were also divisions on Trade Union Side, with Prospect recommending acceptance of the offer and the Branch Executive Committee (BEC) of PCS British Library South deciding to make no formal recommendation to their members in London. Only the PCS BEC at the British Library North in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, recommended rejection of the offer. These divisions served only to confuse staff and prevented the emergence of any effective union campaign.
 
However, there has been an increasing radicalisation of a minority of staff within the BL with 43% of PCS members voting against the pay offer, in spite of their own personal hardships through low pay and rising living costs. Around 50-60 staff at the BL site in West Yorkshire gathered in a lay-by in February in order to discuss strike action, after management had warned PCS against discussing industrial action on library premises. It's important that staff are now given the direction and leadership they deserve by a united union campaign against low pay, both within the library and across the public sector.