Unite CEC Branch – Unite CEC Branch

Strike pay sessions

Your branch reps will be at the waste depots over the next few days to complete and collect in strike pay forms for all workers that were on strike 18 to 29 August.

Electronic payslips will go out on Thursday 22 September, with paper pay slips following.

What you need to do

Come to any session—doesn’t matter whether it’s your shift or depot, whatever is easiest for you.

You need to have your

bank details
Council staff number—will be on your payslip
Unite membership number—if you don’t have this leave blank and the office will fill it in
National Insurance number
printed out payslips from August and September.

New pay offer: strikes suspended, ballot open til 28 September

COSLA tables new offer following First Minister talks

Photo by Craig Maclean

Following a long series of negotiations, including talks with the First Minister, a new pay offer has been put to the unions. Unite, Unison and GMB have all decided to take the deal to their members to vote on.

While the consultative ballot is carried out, planned strike action is suspended.

Unite have recommended members accept this offer, on the basis that it is the best available through the current negotiations, as the Scottish Government has tabled it as a ‘best and final’ offer.

We recommend members consider this carefully, understand how it applies to them and think abut what action beyond this offer might look like and vote accordingly.

The offer

Second wave of strike action in Edinburgh starts 6 September—suspended

This action is suspended—see the latest on the pay dispute

Members in Waste and Cleansing will walk out again from Tuesday 6 to Tuesday 13 September as the dispute over local government pay in Scotland continues.

Schools workers in Edinburgh are not on strike.

Striking members should read the strike FAQ and add any questions at the bottom.

Pickets remain as before. See picket locations.

Donate to the strike fund to support these workers.

Latest offer

Scotland demands a pay rise—STUC march and rally on 8 September

Assemble at 10:30am on Johnson Terrace to march off at 11am.
Rally at the Scottish Parliament 11.30am to 1pm

The Cost-of-Living Crisis is hitting people across the country. Public service workers in particular are facing a fresh set of real terms pay cuts on top of years of stagnating wages.

The STUC and our affiliated unions are campaigning for a range of urgent actions to stem this crisis, including action to reduce energy bills, support for those of all ages on benefits, rent caps and action to reduce transport costs.

The ultimate responsibility for the Cost-of-Living Crisis sits with the Tories at Westminster. However, this does not mean that the Scottish Government is powerless. It needs to start by funding inflation level pay rises for Scottish public service workers.

Join us, as we demand better for the public service workers of Scotland.

Edinburgh waste and cleansing strikes start on Thursday

Edinburgh lead the way in industrial action over local government pay

On Thursday 18th, Unite members in Waste and Cleansing in Edinburgh will take industrial action over the insulting pay offer for local government workers.

On Friday, COSLA increased the offer from 2% to 3.5%. All three unions of the Scottish Joint Council—Unite, Unison and GMB—immediately rejected this insulting offer.

The NHS have been offered—and look set to reject—5%, so once again local government is treated as the poor relation of the public sector. Local government workers in England have been offered a rise of £1,925.

We are the first council to take action, with others following on the 24th—details below.

ATEC under attack—Unite fights back!

Workers in the Monitoring and Response Service of ATEC24, previously known as the Community Alarm Service, have endured understaffing, changes imposed without consultation and a toxic workplace culture. The service has experienced radical changes recently with the outsourcing of the call handling element of the Monitoring and Response Officers’ (MRO) job.

In much of this, workers have not had an effective voice. By excluding those that do the job on the ground and know the service best, we have seen a host of issues in the service.

Many workers believe the service is being ‘run into the ground’, with long-term understaffing and a refusal to recruit and exclusion from future planning for the service.

Read about Unite in ATEC24

Industrial action ballot

As a result of the on-going problems and the urgency of the risks to workers and vulnerable citizens, we are balloting for industrial action in the area.

The ballot went live on 20 July and closes on Wednesday 3 August.

Outcomes

We are calling for

Vote YES for fair pay—week 4 of the ballot

The ballot for industrial action over pay was issued on 10 June. Many of you have now returned this, however we need all members to have their say in this crucial vote.

If you haven’t voted, please do so now.

If you haven’t received your ballot, call 0131 556 9676 immediately to check your details with the office and get a replacement ballot.

COSLA’s offer of a 2% rise—in fact a dramatic pay cut, given that inflation is currently at 11.7%—is a slap in the face to the dedicated workforce in the Council. We must take a stand against this, so are recommending all workers vote YES for industrial action.

We have been non-stop raising the issue of Council worker pay and speaking to members to ensure the success of this ballot. Below you can see some of our actions over the past few weeks.