Striking school staff will be demonstrating outside the Perth and Kinross constituency office of John Swinney today (Thursday) as they invite the Scottish first minister to speak to workers taking part in the walkout, says UNISON
Many schools have closed as employees stage a two-week strike in the area over their pay offer, which the union says is not enough.
UNISON says Mr Swinney and the Scottish Government are in charge of the purse strings and only they can end the local government pay dispute.
Council and school staff across Scotland are demanding an increased pay offer from employer body Cosla, but workers have brought the dispute to the first minister’s doostep by targeting his constituency first with their industrial action.
UNISON Perth and Kinross branch secretary Stuart Hope said: “John Swinney is the one who can end this dispute as most council funding comes from the Scottish government.
“Education staff do not want to close schools. They all love their jobs and would prefer to be supporting children.
“The way to solve this is for Cosla, the Scottish government and the union to sit down in the same room and talk. Staff need to be valued and treated equally to other public sector workers with the same level of investment.”