With 91% of members responding to say they would be willing to consider strike action over the pay deal, Unite will soon be issuing an industrial action ballot.
Continue reading “Pay 2022: consultative ballot results and demos at COSLA”Tag: COSLA
Pay update—no response from COSLA

Vote in the consultative ballot!
The unions rejected COSLA’s initial pay offer at the end of February and have waiting for a response since. The pay implementation date was 1 April and still no further offer has been received.
Read all posts on the 2022 pay claim
Watch out for your ballot
Today Unite will begin balloting our members to find out
- if you accept or reject COSLA’s offer of 2%
- if you would take industrial action to get a better pay deal.
This is a consultative ballot and will come by email—if you have provided us one—text or post. A consultative ballot simply asks for information, the industrial action ballot comes later. Learn about ballots.
Keep an eye out for this and make sure to vote. It is essential that all of our members vote so we can get a better pay deal.
The ballot will close on 22 April.
Our letter to COSLA
The unions of the Scottish Joint Council (SJC—Unite, Unison and GMB) wrote to COSLA on 1 April.
Continue reading “Pay update—no response from COSLA”Pay claim 2022

Call for £3,000 increase on a 35-hour week basis
The unions of the Scottish Joint Council (SJC—Unite, Unison and GMB) submitted their pay claim to COSLA on 17 January.
Download the full 2022 pay claim or read on for a summary.
The claim is for:
Continue reading “Pay claim 2022”Agreed principles for Health and Social Care staffing crisis
We previously wrote about the staffing crisis in Health and Social Care, sharing the opportunities for staff and highlighting some origins of the crisis. We understand the need for this radical move and offer support to the Council and to all staff that decide to help out in these difficult times.
Staff that honourably take on work in social care must be adequately supported and protected by their employer—as do existing social care staff who may be concerned with the arrival of staff new to the field. There also needs to be careful work around the services that reduce due to staff going over to work in social care.
Unite, GMB and Unison have agreed the following principles with the Scottish Government and COSLA.
Joint statement on prioritisation of Social Care principles for engagement
In achieving the aim of prioritising social care it is recognised that where possible volunteering to assist in other roles will play a part. As such the following high level principles will support effective and proactive engagement with Trade Unions locally to ensure staff feel safe, protected and supported to take on time limited roles. Local Resilience Partnerships are asked to ensure as part of their ongoing process that the following arrangements are in place and met:
Continue reading “Agreed principles for Health and Social Care staffing crisis”Pay update—get your consultative ballot votes in!
On 1 November, Unite issued a consultative ballot to all members to ask if they accept or reject COSLA’s revised pay offer—shown below. This ballot will come out by email if we have one on the system for you—check your contact details are correct using MyUnite or calling the office on 0131 556 9676.
You must return the ballot by Friday 12 November.
Industrial action is postponed to allow the ballot to take place.
Unite recommends you accept the offer—more on this below.
Industrial action ballot
Continue reading “Pay update—get your consultative ballot votes in!”Industrial action ballot launched—important details for members

Unite launch industrial action ballots across all Scottish local authorities as pay dispute escalates
Today, Unite the Union served notice of industrial action ballot to all 32 Scottish local authorities following an overwhelming rejection of the pay offer in a consultative ballot.
In the ballot:
- 83% rejected pay offer
- 74% indicated a willingness to take strike action.
Important ballot information for members
We will conduct a ballot for industrial action of the following members:
Continue reading “Industrial action ballot launched—important details for members”Pay update: Unite rejects COSLA’s offer, gets STUC support
Unite members have rejected the COSLA pay offer. 83.3% voted to reject the offer, with 80% indicating they were willing to take industrial action.
Over 14,000 workers were balloted.
The next steps will be for an industrial action ballot. Make sure your details are up to date by checking MyUnite or contacting the office on 0131 556 9676.
Pat Rafferty, Unite’s Scottish Secretary, has written an excellent article on local government workers for the Morning Star that provides a great analysis of the work done by local authorities and the context for current pay dispute.
Read all posts about the current pay claim for details of the offer, the unions’ proposal and history of the negotiation.
Continue reading “Pay update: Unite rejects COSLA’s offer, gets STUC support”