UNISON members across all of Scotland’s councils voted to accept the latest offer by a margin of 69.6% to 30.4%.
The accepted offer has various improvements on previous rejected offers including a timetable for all local government staff to be paid a minimum of £15 per hour by 2026 and the full deal being backdated to April 2023 rather than some uplifts only happening in January 2024.
UNISON Scotland’s head of local government, Johanna Baxter said: “This deal is long
overdue and was hard fought for by UNISON members. COSLA urgently need to review the bargaining process to ensure that future pay negotiations progress quickly and with as little disruption as possible.
“The improvements secured by UNISON in these negotiations help address low pay and support those in the squeezed middle. Delivering a minimum rate of pay of £15 per hour for all local government workers by April 2026 will go a long way to tackling low pay and will make a real different to people’s lives. Backdating the full offer to 1st April 2023 means those on very modest incomes are protected during the cost of living crisis too.
School staff from Kilpatrick Secondary school in Clydebank treating us to another dance routine
It was UNISON members who stood on picket lines to fight for this improved deal. It was UNISON negotiators who brokered it. And it will be UNISON that fights to ensure that all of the commitments it contains are delivered in full.
And government at local and national level should be aware that we aren’t going to be bullied into believing its council staff expecting fair pay that threatens services and jobs by a government proposing a financially feckless council tax freeze.
Frequently Asked Questions about the pay offer
What exactly does this offer mean for you?
The amount of money you would receive depends on where you are on the pay scale, what job you do, how many hours you work in a week and which local authority you work in. There are a number of documents which can help you work out what it means for you.
- The September offer proposed by COSLA is here,
- The improvements to that offer made to us in November are outlined here
- The proposed revised Spinal Column Points (SCP) for this improved offer can be accessed here.
In calculating the monetary value of the increase for yourself the rule of thumb would be to take the hourly rate for the relevant SCP, multiply that by the number of hours worked and then multiply that by the number of weeks worked in the year (52.14 for full time workers).
Here are a couple of examples for illustrative purposes only:
- A full-time waste driver in Stirling who works 35 hours a week, earning an existing annual salary of £28,030.46 will see their annual salary go up to £29,873.61. That’s because they are currently earning £15.36 per hour and under the improved offer will see their hourly rate will go up to £16.37.
- A full-time care worker in Sorth Lanarkshire who works 35 hours a week, earning an existing annual salary of £28,833.42 will see their annual salary go up to £30,731.32. That’s because they are currently earning £15.80 per hour and under the improved offer will see their hourly rate go up to £16.84.
- A full-time Early Learning and Childcare officer in Renfrewshire who works 37 hours a week, earning an existing annual salary of £28,513.28 will see their annual salary go up to £30,693.25. That’s because they are currently earning £14.78 per hour and under the improved offer will see their hourly rate go up to £15.91.
UNISON Scotland’s local government committee recommend you vote to accept this latest pay offer
UNISON Scotland’s local government committee is made up of local government workers from across Scotland. It recommends you vote to ACCEPT Cosla’s improved pay offer as they feel it is the best offer we can achieve through negotiation. However, as always, UNISON members will decide.
Tackling low pay:
A stronger commitment to achieving a minimum underpinning rate of £15 per hour. Previous offers referred to setting up discussions on whether or not this was something that could be done – this improved offer commits to ensuring it actually happens.
This will have a significant impact on the pay rises for those on the lowest pay, who should as a result, see above inflation increases for at least the next three years.
Backdating to 1st April:
We have worked with Cosla and the Scottish Government to secure an additional £17.2m that will be used to backdate all the elements of the current offer for all members to 1st April 2023. The previous offer meant that a large number of members would have a staged increase, which would reduce the value of their in-year offer.
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