UNITE has confirmed that it has served notice across all 32 Scottish local authorities following an “overwhelming rejection” of the current pay offer in a consultative ballot.
The ballot, which closed this week, revealed that Unite’s local government members rejected a Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) pay offer by 83% – and 74% indicated a willingness to take strike action.
Unite, the GMB and Unison, who jointly represent the vast majority of local government workers, have written to the Scottish Government several times condemning the decision not to provide additional funding to Cosla in order to improve the current pay offer.
Unite will ballot targeted groups of local government workers including school cleaners, janitors and caterers along with fleet maintenance, waste and refuse workers across each local authority.
The ballots open from September 16, and will all close by October 7. If a mandate is received for industrial action, then strike action is expected to take place from late October to late January 2022.
Wendy Dunsmore, Unite industrial officer, said: “Unite’s local government membership have demonstrated their overwhelming rejection of the derisory pay offer. It equates to 19p per day extra for those low paid workers on £25,000 a year. Let’s remember that more than half of all local government workers earn less than this figure with the majority of those being predominantly women. Many of our members have also had to apply for top-ups from the state to keep them above the breadline.”
She added: “Unite will now ballot thousands of our local government workers in targeted areas such as school cleaners, caterers and janitors alongside fleet maintenance, waste and refuse workers.
“Cosla and the Scottish Government should be ashamed that they are forcing local government workers into taking industrial action. Both have a duty to get back round the negotiating table with a fair offer. If they do not then an autumn and winter of industrial unrest awaits.”
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