Residents in Scotland will be faced with a ‘stinking Scottish summer’ unless local government employers improve their pay offer to council workers, union says.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) last week offered a 3.2% pay uplift at all pay points, for a one-year period of 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025.
Unite says ‘no extra cash’ has been added to the offer and accuses COSLA of ‘grossly’ undervaluing Scottish council workers.
COSLA’s previous offer was a 2.2% pay increase from 1 April 2024 with a further 2% increase from 1 October 2024.
The union currently has strike action mandates involving waste workers, street cleaners, and recycling centre operators across 16 councils and is re-balloting workers in five other councils.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Unless COSLA and the Scottish government move quickly to make an acceptable offer then mountains of rubbish will pile up across the nation’s streets. The politicians have a choice, and one more chance, to resolve this pay dispute before strike action.’
Graham McNab, Unite industrial officer, added: ‘A stinking Scottish summer looms unless COSLA and the Scottish government quickly sort this out by injecting more cash into a new offer.’
UNISON and GMB have also rejected the pay offer.
UNISON Scotland local government lead David O’Connor said: ‘Cosla’s revised offer puts absolutely no more money on the table. They have not moved one iota since we advised them that we are preparing for strikes.’
COSLA Resources Spokesperson, Cllr Katie Hagmann said: 'We are extremely disappointed to hear that all three unions have rejected the revised offer. I'll reiterate that the revised offer we put forward last week was a strong, fair and credible pay offer, higher than the rate of inflation and worth more than the first year of the Scottish Government's Public Sector Pay Policy.
'We have been very clear in all discussions with trade unions that the offer is also at the very limit of affordability for councils given the challenging financial situation we are facing. While we are disappointed with this outcome, we remain committed to continuing to engage as positively as we can with our Trade Unions, as strike action is in nobody’s interests.'
