Local government pay negotiations between trade union Unite and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) have collapsed.
Unite has subsequently demanded that Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf directly intervenes in the dispute, and has warned that it is “actively preparing” to ballot its local government membership.
The union claimed that a number of events across Scotland, including the Cycling World Championships set to be held in Glasgow in August, could be under threat of cancellation unless the pay dispute is resolved.
The trade unions representing local government workers jointly condemned COSLA’s actions at a meeting of the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) held on 30 May.
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At the meeting, councillors voted against a trade union motion which called for the SJC – the negotiating body for the main local government workforce – to approach the Scottish government for additional funds to improve upon the current 5% pay offer for 2023.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The Scottish government needs to intervene because COSLA, for the second year in a row, seems utterly incapable of sorting out a fair pay offer. The reality is that the current 5% offer needs to be significantly improved or we will have no choice but to ballot our members on strike action. Unite will always stand up for better jobs, pay and conditions in local government, and just like last year in the end we will win for our members.”
Unite criticised COSLA’s “failure to approach” the Scottish government to financially support a fairer pay offer for local authority workers as repeating the “mistakes of last summer”.
Last year, the Scottish government eventually stepped in after widespread industrial action. It is estimated that the accepted offer in 2022 resulted in a £600m package being brought forward by COSLA and the Scottish government.
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