In response to COSLA meeting with the Scottish government today (Friday), to discuss local government pay increase, Johanna Baxter, UNISON Scotland head of local government said: “The failure of council leaders to come up with a solution today just demonstrates that they and the Scottish government have ducked responsibility on this. They do not seem to have grasped the gravity of this situation. UNISON members will rightly be furious that they are being forced into a position of having to take industrial action for anyone to take notice of them.
“It is simply unacceptable that 4 months after we should have had an agreed a pay-rise for council workers COSLA and the Scottish government are still scrabbling about for further information. Inflation is projected to be as high as 13% and local government staff still only have 2% on the table – the cost of living crisis is hitting people now. They have had months to sort this out.”
“As I have said many times that the last thing UNISON members want is a strike, but we seem to be on a collision course to closing schools, nurseries and waste and recycling services across the country and issuing notices of action in a matter of days. The responsibility for that lies squarely with COSLA and the Scottish Government.”
Notes:
UNISON is the largest union in local government
After the meeting today (Friday) COSLA Spokesperson said: “We held constructive discussions with Scottish Government earlier this week. Leaders met virtually today and at this meeting agreed that they needed further information. Given the importance of a pay award for our workforce, Council Leaders wanted to seek further clarification from both the Scottish Government and the UK Government and will reconvene in the next seven days to further consider this matter.”
COSLA offer is here: https://unison-scotland.org/wp-content/uploads/22-02-28-SJC-Letter-of-Offer.doc
Trade union pay claim is here: https://unison-scotland.org/wp-content/uploads/SJC-Pay-Claim-2022.pdf
National Employers for local government services (UK) LOCAL GOVERNMENT PAY 2022 – pay offer: https://unison-scotland.org/wp-content/uploads/Emps-to-NJC-TUs-pay-offer-25Jul22.pdf
UNISON Contacts:
• Johanna Baxter, head of local government: 07817 120894
• Danny Phillips, communications officer: 07944 664110
{LINK_TO_UNSUBSCRIBE}