Strikes loom Unions prepare to ballot council workers over pay row

COUNCIL workers in Scotland are set to strike over pay, unions have warned.

In a joint letter to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) from Unison, Unite and GMB, the unions said that they are preparing for a formal industrial action ballot after Cosla chose not to improve the pay offer.

In a consultative ballot last month, 89.8 per cent of the unions’ members said that they were willing to take some form of industrial action, up to and including a strike, in pursuit of an improved pay offer.

Unite, Unison and GMB have been working together to negotiate pay under the banner of the Scottish Joint Council for Local Government Employees.

Their letter was addressed to Simon Cameron, the chief officer of Cosla’s employers team, and had copied in all Scottish council leaders, Coslas’s resources spokesperson Gail Macgregor, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and Local Government Secretary Shona Robinson.

The letter said that the decision not to improve the pay offer took place at a

Cosla leaders’ meeting on 29 April.

It also stated that pay wasn’t initially an agenda item at the meeting and that Cosla had not convened a meeting of the negotiating committee since March 4, when the unions rejected the offer.

A source at the meeting said: “There had been a discussion about a new pay offer at the last Cosla meeting and there was an expectation that it would be discussed.”

When they discovered that pay wasn’t on the agenda, Labour councillors “kicked up a fuss”.

There was then a discussion and a vote, but a new offer was “blocked by the SNP, Tories and independent councillors”, who voted against it.

The source added that this means that there will now be no discussion of a new pay offer until a new Cosla leaders group is formed, which could be in June.

The letter said that the decision not to improve the offer “once again demonstrates a failure of Cosla and its leader to deliver for these frontline workers.”

It concluded: “We must therefore inform you that we will progress our preparations for a formal industrial ballot.”

Cosla’s pay offer for local government workers was rejected by all three local government unions earlier this year.

It was put forward on March 2, and included an increase in the Scottish Local Government Living Wage hourly rate to £9.98 and a two per cent pay increase for all pay grades.

The unions had previously asked for a £12 an hour minimum wage and a £3,000 flat rate increase for all pay grades.

They rejected the offer two days later, saying that it would not cover the increase in energy, food, and transport as well as the rise in National Insurance contributions.

They also said that the offer failed “to provide a meaningful increase to the Scottish Local Government Living Wage” and that it “is weighted towards those on the highest pay and will further exacerbate the issue of endemic low pay which plagues this sector.”

They added that it was “so derisory and insulting to our members’ significant contribution that we are not prepared to waste time consulting them on it.” The unions then held a consultative ballot in which 89.8 per cent voted in favour of industrial action.

Unison Scotland head of local government Johanna Baxter said: “It’s obvious that Cosla hasn’t been considering pay as a key issue for council staff. This is poor judgment on their behalf and shows a disappointing lack of engagement.

“For too many years, pay in local government has been held down, and the cost-of-living crisis is pushing many hard-working people into poverty. This will not go unnoticed at the local elections.

“Industrial action is always a last resort but workers are desperate to be heard. Whoever wins the election will have to stand up for workers and come to the negotiating table so workers don’t have to resort to taking action.”

A Cosla spokesman said: “We remain in ongoing discussions with our trade union colleagues in relation to pay.”

If council workers do decide to strike, it could be part of a summer of discontent as rail staff are threatening to bring the nation to a “standstill2.

Last month the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) Union launched a ballot of over 40,000 staff on the potential to start industrial action in a row over pay and jobs.

If members of the union were to back the motion, passengers would be impacted by stoppages from as early as June.

RMT claimed that Network Rail is planning to cut at least 2,500 safety-critical maintenance jobs as part of the £2 billion reductions in spending.

The union also said that workers at train operators have been subject to pay freezes and forced changes to their terms and conditions.