Schools, nurseries and early years centres may have to close for spells after the summer, as thousands of council workers across Scotland voted to take strike action.
Council workers in the GMB and Unison unions at local authorities covering swathes of Scotland plan to walk out - on dates yet to be determined - over a 2 per cent pay increase offered by Cosla, the body representing local authorities.
Members of Unison, Scotland’s largest local government union, overwhelmingly voted to reject a final offer from local authorities’ body Cosla, it emerged late yesterday.
Schools, early years workers and cleansing departments are to take action, with dates yet to be confirmed.
Unison said members in all councils across Scotland voted to reject the Cosla final pay offer of 2 per cent, with nine local authority branches exceeding the required 50 per cent turnout threshold required by the Trade Union Act 2016.
Three unions that represent council workers - Unison, Unite and the GMB - have asked for a £3,000 increase and a £12 an hour rate as a minimum for all council workers.
Threat of strike action over pay
Cosla leaders will meet on Friday and Unison says they must put forward an improved offer to avoid disruption to council services across Scotland.
Johanna Baxter, Unison head of local government, said: “Council workers south of the border yesterday were offered a flat rate uplift of £1,925, which for those on the lowest pay equates to a 10.5 per cent increase.
“You have to wonder why council workers north of the border have only been offered a measly 2 per cent increase when the cost of living continues to spiral.
“It is clear now that local government workers have had enough and are prepared to strike in the coming weeks unless we see a sensible offer, from Cosla, on the table on Friday.”
GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said: “Unless ministers and Cosla make a significantly improved pay offer for the consultation of our members, then strike action is happening across these vital services.
“The 2 per cent that’s already been massively rejected is a shameful proposal, it’s worth less than a tenner a week extra for those earning £25,000 or under, and it will turn a cost-of-living crisis into a catastrophe for many workers and their families.”
He added: “Two years ago, these workers were applauded on the doorstep by political leaders, but now they are being told to suffer massive real-terms pay cuts ahead of a brutal winter, with forecasts of double-digit inflation and energy bills over £3,000.”
Councillor David Ross, leader of the Labour group at Cosla, and Mark Griffin MSP, local government spokesperson for the party, said in a joint statement: “We are disappointed that [Cosla] has been unable to make a pay offer that would avoid the need for industrial action, but the responsibility for this lies fairly and squarely with the Scottish government.”
Scottish Conservatives chair Craig Hoy said: “Scotland’s schoolchildren have suffered enough during the pandemic, without their education being further hit.
“Amid a global cost-of-living crisis, it’s understandable that workers are looking for fair and significant pay rises.”
Mr Hoy said the Scottish government had “systematically underfunded Scotland’s local authorities for years”, adding that they “must intervene immediately to prevent these catastrophic strikes going ahead”.
