Learning – Unite CEC Branch

Pay update—members balloted on new offer

Unison strikes to go ahead.
Unite and GMB suspend their strike action.

COSLA submitted a new offer, noted as their ‘best and final’, on 21 September. Unite, Unison and GMB are balloting their members on the offer.

Unison are going ahead with their planned industrial action in schools next week and are recommending their members reject the offer.

Unite and GMB have suspended all industrial action while they ballot their members to see if they accept or reject the offer.

The offer

From 1 April 2023:

Sign up to access The Orb

All Council employees can now access The Orb using their own device. The Orb gives you direct access to all policies and procedures, as well as

structure charts to understand your department
information about training
redeployment opportunities
health and safety information
internal job adverts.

To sign up you need your staff number and National Insurance number.

This is a great step to making sure workers get access to information and we encourage all members to sign up and make themselves familiar with how to find policies and training that could be helpful.

Pay 2023: COSLA refuse request for more money for a fair deal

Time to strike as councillors refuse a decent pay offer for council workers

On Tuesday Unite, Unison and GMB met with COSLA to discuss progress on our pay claim. We requested for the second time in a week that the Scottish Joint Council (SJC – the three unions and the councillors representing the employers’ side) approach the Scottish Government for additional monies to improve the pay offer to give a decent pay rise for local government workers.

Councillors of all parties voted against this motion—refusing to go to the government for more money, despite understanding there is not enough in the pot. The COSLA Leaders—consisting of Council Leaders of all councils in Scotland—had already voted to not go to the government for more money at their meeting last Friday.

This made it clear that the trade unions have no other way to secure a pay fair deal, but to ballot our members to take industrial action.

Forty-one of 63 Councillors sign the unions’ Pledge for Public Services

Councillors support no compulsory redundancies and the fight against privatisation

Most councillors have now signed the Pledge for Public Services in support of the demands of the Joint Trade Unions of Edinburgh Council (Unite, Unison and the GMB):

keeping the ‘no compulsory redundancy’ pledge
in-housing public services
demanding funding for local government.

Forty-one of the 63 councillors in Edinburgh have signed—all the Green, Labour and SNP councillors and independent councillor Ross McKenzie. No Lib Dem of Tory councillors have signed.

Check out our page on the Pledge for Public Services to see if your councillor has signed.

How you can help

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

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.

Upcoming Learning Opportunities for Unite Reps and Members January 2023

There are a range of opportunities for learning available this new year:

Learn with Unite Free On-line Webinar :- Help to manage the Cost of Living Crisis

Dates :-

Thurs 19th January @ 1pm OR

Tuesday 24th January @ 7pm

This 1 hour on-line webinar, delivered by Money Advice Scotland will cover:-

• Understanding Energy Bills

• Mortgage Rates

• Rising Food, Fuel & Energy bills

• Tips & Advice

• Signposting for Support

• Q&A

To sign up/more info contact – wendy.skinner@unitetheunion.org

The Open University in Scotland has fully-funded places on their Microcredentials courses. Applications for these places are now open and will close on 5th February 2023. They have 19 Microcredential courses on offer which cover subjects including business and management, computing and IT and sustainability. These courses will start in March 2023.

More information, as well as the application form, can be found on The Open University courses website

Tomorrow Wednesday 18th January at 2pm. The TUC is hosting a webinar for TU reps’Preventing burnout and increase well being’ You can register for this on the TUC website

Then on Thursday 19th January the STUC are hosting an all day pilot event on the Cost of Living Crisis in Glasgow. To apply to attend the a web form needs to be completed and submitted to the STUC

As well as regular rep training there are online courses available through Learn with Unite and even if you don’t have council email you can register the City of Edinburgh Council’s myLearning Hub

If anyone needs more information about workplace union learning opportunities or some help getting registered for online learning, contact CEC Unite’s ULR Amanda Cunningham (Amanda.cunningham@unitetheunion.org & 0780 381 4411)