As we count down to three days of strike action on 26th, 27th & 28th September by our colleagues in education, here is some important information both for strikers and also for other members across the council, who will want to support their colleagues.
Online rally – Tuesday 19th September – 6.30pm
There will be an online rally with our General Secretary, Christina McAnea, tonight – Tuesday 19th September at 6.30pm. Watch live on Facebook
National in-person rally – Edinburgh – Wednesday 27th September – 12noon
Please do come along and try to encourage attendance from your membership at the national in-person rally which we are hold on Wednesday 27th September, outside the Scottish Parliament. Assemble from 12noon with speeches starting around 12.30pm. Flags, banners, whistles at the ready folks – the Scottish Government need to hear our members roar!
Exemptions from action
We have received a few requests from local authorities to exclude certain groups and or workplaces. To be very clear – special needs schools are INcluded in the action and should not be excluded as a matter of course.
The following exemptions are standard:
- Any pregnant employee who has notified the Council of the expected date of birth
- Employees who have intimated that they are in the last year of their employment prior to retiring and who are in the Strathclyde Pension Fund
- Modern apprentices
If you have a query about any exemption/exclusion request you receive from your local authority please come back to the branch.
Members on multiple contracts
We’ve had a few queries from members who are employed on multiple contracts with the local authority. Weve updated the FAQs with this question to provide advice to them.
I have more than one job with council, how does the strike affect me?
You are only being called out on strike for any job(s)/contract(s) where you are working in schools providing services to the running and operation of the school. If you have other jobs/contracts with the council you should attend these as normal. It is important that your UNISON membership record has a note of all the jobs you have, you can check and update this via My UNISON | UNISON National or by calling 0800 0 857 857.
Interview with BBC Scotland’s The Nine
UNISON SCotland’s Head of Local Government, Johanna Bazter did an interview with BBC Scotland’s The Nine on Thursday of last week on COSLA’s revised offer and why it’s not good enough – you can watch/share that here https://youtu.be/J0FEgPHg90A