Council workers to vote on strike over wage offer

Union says low-paid will get extra 97p a week

COUNCIL workers will be balloted for strike action over a pay dispute with local authorities.

Unison claimed a revised offer will only give low-paid staff an extra 97p a week.

The initial offer in March included a flat rate payment of £800 for staff earning up to £25,000, a two per cent rise for staff on between £25,000 and £40,000, and one per cent for higher earners.

Its members voted by 88 per cent to reject the offer and talks have taken place with council bosses over an improved settlement.

However, a letter from Unison to council umbrella group Cosla shows the dispute is escalating and there will be a ballot on Monday.

Johanna Baxter, the union’s head of local government, wrote that the “only difference” in the revised offer was an extra £50 to the flat rate payment: “This amounts to an increase of just 97p a week and is some way off the minimum rate of pay of £10.50/hr in our claim.”

“This is not a significant improvement in your original offer, which was overwhelmingly rejected by our members in a consultative ballot.”

She said members had worked flat out in the pandemic and were “worth more” than the offer.

Thousands of council staff work in education and a strike could disrupt schools and other services.

A source said local authority budgets had been squeezed and a higher offer would have to come from funds provided by the SNP Government.

Baxter’s letter was copied to SNP Cabinet Secretaries Kate Forbes, Shona Robison and Shirley-Anne Somerville

Scottish Labour MSP Mark Griffin said: “The SNP is treating council workers with utter contempt. Throughout the pandemic they have worked tirelessly to keep essential services running and protect the most vulnerable. The SNP’s refusal to engage in good faith to negotiate a fair pay deal is an insult to these workers.”

A Cosla spokesperson said: “We appreciate everything local government workers have been doing, and continue to do, to support people and communities during the pandemic and as we begin to recover.

We continue with on-going constructive negotiations.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Public sector workers – including local government staff – are integral to tackling the pandemic in Scotland.

“The Scottish Government is not involved in the local government pay negotiations. Pay settlements for council workers (excluding teachers) are a matter for Cosla and are determined through negotiations at the Scottish Joint Committee (SJC).

“The Scottish Government is not a member of the SJC and council pay is therefore not a matter it can intervene in.”

This is some way off the minimum rate of pay JOHANNA BAXTER UNISON SPOKESPERSON