Local government pay offer for Scotland will be implemented despite planned strike

The latest local government pay offer for Scotland will come into force despite the country’s biggest union for council staff planning strike action in protest against it later this month.

The 32 council leaders, through their representative body COSLA, have agreed to implement the increase – worth 67p an hour or 3.6%, whichever is higher – based on the agreement of two of the three unions, the GMB and Unite.

However, UNISON members have overwhelmingly rejected the offer. This week, the union said it would hold a two-week strike later this month for school and early years centre staff working for Perth and Kinross Council, the area that includes first minister John Swinney’s constituency.

UNISON has particularly criticised the fact that the offer, which is worth an average of 4.27% for council staff in Scotland, is less than the 5-6% given to large numbers of public sector workers across the UK.

‘A strong settlement for employees’

But COSLA, which increased its previous offer of 3.2% with the help of Scottish Government cash, said that councils could not afford any more. It has also highlighted that the deal is worth more than the offer of £1,290, or 2.5%, whichever is higher, made to council staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“The [Scottish Joint Council for Local Government Employees] pay award of 3.6% or £0.67 (whichever is higher)…offers a fair, above inflation and strong settlement for all of our employees,” said COSLA resources spokesperson, Katie Hagmann. “It is at the absolute limit of affordability in the extremely challenging financial context we face.”

She said the decision to implement the deal, which will be backdated to April 2024, had been influenced by representations from Unite and GMB.

“Leaders have fully considered the views of our three trade unions, including the concerns expressed by GMB and Unite about the cost of living and financial pressures which continue to affect many across our workforce, and their desire for the offer to be implemented as soon as possible,” Hagmann added.

‘Staff forced to strike’

However, UNISON Perth and Kinross branch secretary Stuart Hope said: “A fair pay deal should have been in place from 1 April, but six months later it’s still not been agreed.

Instead, the employer has imposed a wage rise rejected by a majority of the workers UNISON represents. Yet again local government staff are being forced to strike to simply get fair pay.”

The two-week strike starts on 21 October and UNISON said it would lead to the closure of schools and early centres in Perth and Kinross.

COSLA said councils would implement the pay offer, and pay staff backpay from April 2024, in line with their local payroll processes.