Join your union and have your say on pay
FDA Fast Stream reps Simon and Natasha on the campaign for better pay, and why there has never has been a better time to join the FDA.
The FDA is the only recognised union for Fast Streamers. That makes us the only organisation who can discuss and negotiate pay with the Fast Stream employer (FSET) on behalf of centrally managed Fast Streamers.
In 2019, the FDA won the right for Fast Streamers to ballot, enabling us to vote on pay deals for the first time ever. In 2020, the FDA won a pay deal that secured yearly pay increases for all Fast Streamers and pay reviews every two years.
The FDA Fast Stream Committee is a volunteer committee led by our members. We represent you and act based on what you tell us, including in surveys, Town Halls, and members’ ballots.
You will only have a say on your pay if you’re a union member. Only union members can vote in ballots, like voting to accept or reject pay offers from the Fast Stream, voting on our pay strategy, or voting on industrial action such as strikes.
If you are not an FDA member, there has never been a better time to join up.
The current Fast Stream pay system is broken. The Year 1 salary hasn’t changed in five years. Since 2010, the Fast Stream starting salary has gone from £27,000 to £28,000 – a rise of only 3.7% in 12 years. By contrast, in the same period the minimum pay for Cabinet Office HEOs has gone up by 15.6% nationally and 15.9% in London.
The FDA is determined to address this long-term stagnation of Fast Stream pay. In our pay survey from May/June 2022, our members told us to push for starting pay closer to Cabinet Office HEOs: equal pay for equal work.
Our aim is to get a deal that will align Fast Stream pay with the pay band minimum of Cabinet Office HEOs by 2024. We started talking to FSET about pay in February 2022.
However, we have seen very little engagement from FSET. When it comes to pay, they have repeatedly ignored the voices of Fast Streamers and put through the bare minimum.
The only way to improve Fast Stream pay is to join the union. The more members we have, the better we represent Fast Streamers — and the more influence we have over our employer.
Now is the time to join your union and have a say on your pay.
Simon and Natasha are FDA Fast Stream reps.
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