Council workers target schools for strike action in pay battle

Almost 90% of staff vote for industrial action after wages ‘held down for years’

SCOTTISH schools face being shut in a targeted local government workers strike in a dispute over pay, The Herald can reveal.

Thousands of local government services staff are preparing for a strike ballot in the dispute.

The public services union Unison has confirmed an indicative ballot of council workers has already revealed an “incredible” 89.8% voted in favour of taking industrial action up to and including strike action over an “unacceptable” pay offer.

Trade unions representing 200,000 local government workers across Scotland have already written to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) – which acts as an employers’ association – to say that councils have failed to come up with an acceptable pay offer for workers whose pay has been

“held down for too many years”.

However, union sources have revealed any future strike is likely to be targeted at areas where it will have the “highest impact”, and to ensure any industrial action meets strict legal thresholds over turnout

– and schools are top of the agenda.

One senior union source said: “It is likely we will target an occupational group, rather than a specific authority. If we decide to ballot all members in schools that would have quite an impact. It would shut them.”

A potentially embarrassing strike over last year’s pay claim involving thousands of binmen, fleet maintenance, school cleaning, school janitorial and recycling was due to take place between November 8 and 12, as Glasgow was hosting COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference.

But, on the eve of the conference, and after more than 10 months of negotiations, money was found for an improved pay offer that was accepted.

Before that, the unions representing local government workers had written to the Scottish Government condemning its decision not to provide additional funding to Cosla to improve the local authorities’ pay offer.

In the latest joint letter to Cosla, unions say the employer has failed to come up with an acceptable pay offer for local government workers and they will remain available for further talks to ensure the dispute can be resolved promptly.

Johanna Baxter, head of local government with public services union, Unison Scotland, said a vote in favour of a strike would mean schools were likely to close “because there are more local government workers in schools than teachers”.

Ms Baxter said the situation was “totally unacceptable”, adding: “Low pay is endemic in this sector. Those workers have not had any reward for the efforts they have put in during the pandemic periods.

“They deserve a decent wage and deserve to be recognised and rewarded for the efforts they put in. This country would not have survived the past few years without local government but they are treated as the poor relations of the public sector.

“Those who receive the most will get the highest increase and those who get the least will get the lowest increase.

“There is not enough money going

into local government to fund a decent pay rise for these workers for years and members have had enough.”

The issue is around a proposed 2% pay increase with a 20p rise in the minimum hourly wage at £9.98 – 8p more than the real Living Wage – while inflation is running at 7%. There was concern the proposed rise was inequitably benefitting higher paid workers while the 50% who earn less than £25,000 a year were losing out.

The union said those earning over £40,000 a year –12% of the local government workforce – would get an increase of more than £800 a year, while some will get as much as £2,000 more. It said those who earn below £25,000 would get a pay increase of just about £500.

Unison officials say that after years of below inflation pay awards, council workers should be given a one-year £3,000 flat rate pay rise for the next financial year, and for the minimum rate of pay to be increased to £12 per hour.

“Industrial action was only narrowly avoided last year,” said Ms Baxter. “Negotiations took almost a year and only concluded at the end of the year after we had served notice of industrial action in those authorities where we had a mandate. That was only because of extra money that was put in at the last minute by the Scottish Government.”

The wage deal ensured an increase for the lowest paid workers of 5.8% for one year to help to address poverty pay.

It also included a £850 flat rate payment based on a 37-hour working week for those earning up to £25,000.

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

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Pay settlements for council workers – excluding teachers – are a matter for Cosla and are determined through negotiations at the Scottish Joint Committee.”