Schools – Page 3 – Unite CEC Branch

COSLA pay offer 2023—vote now to reject!

Check your email for your ballot and reject this real-terms pay cut

Last week COSLA gave their pay offer for local government workers. The offer is yet another real terms pay cut—and a significant one at that as the cost of living continues to rise.

Unite have sent a consultative ballot out to all members in local government for you to have your say. This went by email today—texts and postal ballots will follow for members that don’t have an email on record.

We strongly recommend you reject this insult of an offer.

Read about the offer and the ballot below.

The offer

Vote now to fight against redundancies and privatisation

Have you voted yet?

On Monday we opened a consultative ballot for all our members across the City of Edinburgh Council to see if you would take action over the

loss of the ‘no compulsory redundancy’ pledge
threat of outsourcing and privatisation.

Both of these are potential consequences of the Lib Dem budget that was passed by the Council on 23 February. Read our post on the budget for details.

This is a consultative ballot to check if members would take action. This is not an industrial action ballot, which would lead to action. Read about different ballots.

We need to show that we will not sit back and accept cuts to jobs and services, so vote as soon as you receive your ballot. The ballot closes on 2 April.

How you receive your ballot

Email

If we have an email on file for you, you will receive this by email.

International Women’s Day 2023

On 8 March we celebrate International Women’s Day, when we highlight the fight for gender equality and advocate for the rights of women in the workplace, in the community and across society as a whole.

Key facts in the Council

69% of workers in the City of Edinburgh Council are women. This is 67% of local government employees and 78% of teachers.

Council budget 2023

What happened, what it means for workers and how we will fight

On Thursday 23 February, Council met to agree the budget for 2023/24. With toxic tribalism the order of the day, councillors voted along party lines and it came down to three rounds of voting to agree a budget, with the Lib Dem budget being agreed. For the Housing Revenue Account, the administration budget motion was carried.

Read on for details of the day, what the budget means to you and how we are fighting back against it.

Watch the budget meeting

Read the key documents:

See the other budget papers.

Demonstration

Through every season the crowd of ragged-trousered philanthropists continued to toil and sweat at their noble and unselfish task of making Edinburgh run…

The day started with a strong demonstration outside the City Chambers, with far greater numbers than in recent years, where Unite, Unison, EIS, NASUWT, the Edinburgh TUC and community, political and activist groups stood together against further cuts.

Stop the cuts—demo on 23 February at the City Chambers

Join us on Thursday from 8:30am to protest the Council Budget

On Thursday, the Council will meet to approve its budget for 2023/24. The proposals look set to make around £18m worth of cuts, including axing Education Welfare Officers and Speech Language Therapists and forcing citizens to use online channels as part of a ‘digital by default’ approach.

Furthermore, the budget only accounts for a 3% pay rise for council workers, at a time where inflation stands at 13.4% with food prices having increased by 17% in the past year and mortgage rates and rent skyrocketing.

Read the budget papers

Unions submit pay claim for 2023

Unions call for £15 per hour minimum rate and a pay rise of 12% or £4,000

On 26 January, the Scottish Joint Council (SJC – Unite, Unison and GMB) submitted its pay claim for local government workers to COSLA.

The pay claim is

a minimum rate of pay of £15 per hour
an increase of 12% or £4,000, whichever is greater,
pay based on a 35-hour week
no less than parity with other local government bargaining groups, such as teachers
expectation to implement the pay away by 1 April.

Other aspects include

Teachers’ strike on 25 January

On Wednesday, teachers in the EIS and SSTA in Edinburgh are striking as part of their on-going dispute over pay.

If you work in a school it is vital that you read our page about your rights and what to do when others are on strike. In short: