Speaking to Sky News, the chancellor of the Exchequer said: "Public-sector pay has obviously got to reflect prevailing conditions and, in particular, inflation has come down. We have to be fair with regard to people working in the private sector, many of whom have seen their pay conditions tighten."
Darling was commenting in response to Audit Commission chief executive Steve Bundred, who suggested a pay freeze in the public sector would be a "pain free" way of cutting public spending.
But Chris Keates, general secretary of teachers union the NASUWT, said: "The Audit Commission is simply joining the long list of those who use the recession as an excuse to promulgate an anti-public services agenda, to privatise public services and to attack public-service workers' jobs, pay and pensions on the grounds that there should be ‘equity of misery'.
"Public services are vital to the nation's economy.
"Raiding public-service pay and pensions is a fundamentally flawed strategy for rebuilding the economy."
Chancellor Alistair Darling does not rule out public sector pay freezes
Alistair Darling has refused to rule out pay freezes in the public sector, and will make a decision on the issue over the next few weeks.
