SUMMER OF MASS STRIKES LOOMING
Unions ready to reject expected 3% wage rise
Scotland is heading for a summer of strikes after councils budgeted for a three per cent pay rise for hundreds of thousands of staff.
The below inflation rise does not come close to meeting trade union demands and insiders fear industrial action is likely.
Relations between the unions and town halls are poor in the wake of strikes in recent years.
Schools closed last year and only reopened after the Scottish Government put more money on the table.
Cosla, the umbrella group representing councils, has not tabled a pay offer for 2024/25 but a move is expected this month. It is understood cash-strapped councils have the money for a three per cent rise, with some budgeting for between two per cent and four per cent.
But such an offer would be unacceptable to the unions, with the GMB demanding an extra £1.50 an hour for workers.
They say this would ensure more than half the workforce receiving a rise above 10 per cent with four in five staff getting at least 7.5 per cent. Unison, the biggest union in local government, has tabled an demand for an above-inflation rise for the low paid and a seven per cent hike across all spinal points.
A council source said unless the government coughed up more cash schools could close and refuse workers may strike.
David O’Connor, Unison local government organiser, said: “If councils are budgeting three per cent for pay, we know it falls far short of our pay claim.”
Keir Greenaway, from GMB Scotland, said: “We are already asking our members their view on taking industrial action because the clock is ticking.”
A Cosla spokesperson said: “Taking account of what is essentially a flat cash settlement from Scottish Government, any decision on a pay offer will be informed by affordability concerns and the impact on services in addition to budgeting projections by individual councils.”