UNISON local government members have voted overwhelmingly to reject COSLA’s latest pay offer, with 86% of those balloted choosing to reject.
This was an ALL local government members email ballot. Thank you to the thousands of you who voted. Over 50% of you voted in this ballot.
From recent postal ballots, UNISON has mandates for strike action by waste and recycling workers at 13 councils, and for education and early years staff at five councils.
Please contact your local branch for further details or check our local government campaign page for updates.
What happens now?
Your local government committee, made up of senior elected stewards from across Scotland, will discuss next steps over the next few days and we will be in touch as soon as we can.
This pay offer clearly falls short given the 25% real-terms pay cut over the past 14 years, and this offer is not in line with other public service workers, many of whom have been given 5.5% pay rises.
COSLA and the Scottish government need to understand the anger among council staff. We are simply asking for a fair increase to stop our pay consistently falling behind.
We know the last thing anyone wants to do is go on strike, but local government workers deserve better.
Colette Hunter – Chair UNISON Scotland local government committee
David O’Connor – UNISON Scotland co-lead for local government