Council workers' strike set to "bring Scotland to a standstill"

Representatives from trade unions Unite and GMB have confirmed that they will join fellow public sector union Unison for a one-day strike on Wednesday 24 September.

This latest bout of industrial action is set to bring Scotland to a 24-hour standstill, during which workers in the fields of education, social care, recreation, road maintenance and refuse collection will strike against the below-inflation wage increase offered to them by their employers.

Unions have threatened further industrial action during the following week should local government officials fail to resolve the present pay dispute.

Last month, 150,000 members of Unite, Unison and GMB combined to stage a walkout over a salary increase offer from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). The Scottish councils’ umbrella body proposed an increase of 2.5 per cent annually for three years, but the offer was rejected as it failed to match the rising costs of living, with inflation currently at five per cent.

COSLA has since come back with a 2.5 per cent one-year offer, but it seems that the proposal has merely infuriated union members and representatives alike.

Senior Unite official, Jimmy Farley vented his frustration with COSLA’s uncompromising approach, stating: “Unite members are furious with the actions of Scottish employers and council leaders who seem determined to take an unnecessarily hard line on pay with some of the poorest and lowest paid workers in Scotland.

“The employers should be ashamed of their record on low pay in Scottish local government and of their recent actions in reaffirming their original pay offer of 2.5 per cent. With inflation now running at five per cent, our members are struggling to make their low wages stretch any further.

“The employers’ hard-hearted stance has only exacerbated an already strained situation and strengthened the resolve of our members to win a living wage.”

Mr Farley’s sentiment was echoed by Stephanie Herd, Chairperson of the Unison Scotland Local Government Committee, who announced: “This decision clearly shows the anger our members feel at the employers’ failure to improve their offer, and also the determination of our members to win a fair and just pay settlement.”

Unison Scotland’s regional officer Dougie Black said that the decision to take further industrial action was regrettable but unavoidable. "We have no alternative given the employers’ behaviour over this," he said.

However, COSLA spokesperson Councillor Michael Cook hit back at the trade unions, stating that a salary increase of five per cent is unrealistic due to the financial constraints currently faced by local governments across Scotland.

“I am disappointed that the trade unions are actively planning to put Scotland's communities through more unnecessary disruption,” he said.

“Context is essential here. Since we made an offer of 2.5 per cent to Unions in March 2008, the financial environment has changed. We acknowledge that and fully sympathise with our employees over the pressures they face.

“As has been outlined, those pressures also mean huge difficulties for council budgets. The circumstances of these budgets have not remained the same – far from it. While the amount in those budgets is the same, demands on those budgets have increased hugely.”

Mr Cook went on to argue that the rising costs of energy, food and fuel, as well as slowing capital returns, had narrowed the scope for improved workers’ salaries. He added: “The real cause of the impasse, despite what the unions are trying to spin, is that at our last meeting the unions simply reiterated their original demand of five per cent. In light of this stance by the unions, employers really had no alternative but to reaffirm their offer of 2.5 per cent.

“To increase the offer beyond this level would mean service reduction and job losses. It is time for the unions to be a bit more realistic in their demands.”

The start and finish times of the strike on 24 September are as yet unknown, but are set to be announced following a meeting between Unison, Unite and GMB.