An online consultation is now underway on the latest pay offer from COSLA. This closes at 12 noon on 16 October. UNISON is urging members to reject. Click HERE to see why.
This comes as the branch thanks all our education members who took action on 26-28 September in support of a pay rise for all. Members were superb – organised, passionate and committed and the picket lines were joyous. See pictures below.
A well-attended rally at the Cowdray Hall in Aberdeen also heard inspirational speeches from our local leadership.
Some Aberdeenshire members also attended a rally at Holyrood to tell the Scottish Government direct why councils need more money.
UNISON has also written to COSLA and the Scottish Government warning that further industrial action is being planned, after the three days of strikes by members in more than 1,800 schools across Scotland.
There has also been a surge in membership numbers as thousands of local government workers joined UNISON in the past week.
The letter calls on COSLA to come clean over the details of its revised pay offer. COSLA has implied the deal is mostly a flat-rate payment, but the reality is a complex percentage deal related to hours worked.
It is standard practice for the employer to publish amended pay scales alongside any pay offer, but this hasn’t happened for this latest revised offer. Council staff need this vital information to help them decide whether to accept or reject the offer.
UNISON Scotland’s head of local government Johanna Baxter said: “The strength of feeling amongst UNISON school staff has been clear for all to see on picket lines across Scotland.
“There’s considerable concern that channelling money from the Redress Scheme and Pupil Equity Funds will affect jobs and the services provided to vulnerable children.”
UNISON Scotland chair of the local government committee Mark Ferguson said: “For COSLA to tell council staff to ‘sign up now and we’ll tell you how much you’ll get later’ just adds insult to the injury of the ongoing wait for a pay deal that should have been in wage packets in April.
“Most council staff want to know ‘what does this offer mean for me?’, but if the pay scales aren’t published, it’s impossible to know.
“COSLA must explain. And if it has any confidence its offer is fair, it would be putting pay scales on billboards rather than keeping them secret.”
