Unite has received a response from the Finance Minister, Kate Forbes, regarding our recent letter on Local Government Employees’ pay.
In her letter she reiterates her commendation and thanks to local government workers. However she has made it quite clear that her thanks does not stretch to financially rewarding our hard work in the fight against a pandemic that has affected and changed the working lives of all local government workers.
The letter states that Scottish Government does not take part in pay negotiations for local government workers. However, the Scottish Government continues to be accountable for the significant underfunding in local authorities which means that the Scottish Government is responsible for low pay in Local Government and the disparity in pay offers to different parts of the Public Sector (e.g. NHS offered 4% while Local Government Employees offered 2%).
This underfunding has resulted in you being denied a decent pay rise. It is not acceptable to abdicate and deny this responsibility.
Unite, along with our sister trade unions, will take up the offer of meeting with the Finance Minister to make representations for a workforce that have been overlooked and undervalued for years.
In the meantime, Unite will continue preparations for the forthcoming industrial action ballot.