UNISON reps from councils across Scotland met on 1 December 2017 to map out a campaign for a pay claim for 2018 that will repair some of the damage of years of real terms pay cuts.
The average public service worker has lost almost £4,000 in the value of their pay since 2010.
Mark Ferguson, chair of the Scottish Local Government Committee, said: “Our members pay has suffered from years of pay freezes and below inflation pay rises, resulting of losses up to 16% since 2010.
“Our Scottish local government conference voted overwhelmingly on 1 December 2017 to submit a pay claim of 6.5%. This figure includes RPI/CPI whichever is greater plus the starting point for the recovery of losses already suffered.”
UNISON will now take this position to the other local government unions to set a joint claim for the new year.
Mark has also written to the Chair of UNISON Scotland Local Government Service Group and to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Derek Mackay MSP, setting out UNISON’s concerns over the lack of funding for local government pay in the draft Scottish budget and highlights the inconsistent approach compared to teachers pay (see letter here).
Mark added: “Whilst the UK & Scottish Government have been making cuts through a flawed austerity agenda, our members have continued to provide essential services to our communities – despite thousands of job losses.
“Our branches have begun preparing for our pay campaign and are demanding that our employers ‘PAY UP NOW’.”