A survey of more than 70 pay deals negotiated in the private sector over the last year has found that over 20,000 workers have benefitted from pay deals of up to 2% - with some as high as 3% - over a single year. The survey, by the respected journal Industrial Relations News, doesn’t include multi-year agreements struck before January 2013 which, it says, cover “many thousands” more, mostly in the manufacturing sector.

The authors Colman Higgins and Andy Prendergast say a 2% ‘benchmark’ was established in the pharmaceuticals and medical devices sectors. This is now rolling out to sectors like in retail and manufacturing. They say other deals have included pay pauses but, in many cases, once-off lump sums were agreed in return for these. Others included significant productivity items over and above the ‘normal ongoing change,’ which employers traditionally expect in exchange for pay increases.

IMPACT national secretary Matt Staunton, who leads for the union in commercial and private sector organisations, said the findings chime with his recent experience. “IMPACT has been negotiating modest pay deals in commercial and private companies that are able to pay. But this has invariably involved productivity measures or changes to pay structures,” he said.