When you get your pay slip for the 22 December pay, it will show some deductions. This is because the system will pay you your backpay including the days you were on strike, and then deduct it again.
Your pay slip is likely to show these entries:
Continue reading “Backdated pay for strikers”
If you receive Universal Credit the amount you get changes if your take-home pay changes. This includes awards of backdated pay. When your backpay for the 2022/23 local government pay settlement is paid on 22 December, your Universal Credit payment will either be less than you normally receive or your income may be too high to qualify for a payment and your claim will close.
Universal Credit is calculated on your personal circumstances. Because of this the Council do not know how, or if, you may be affected.
If your claim closes, you will see a message on your UC Journal telling you about this.
Craft pay award to be paid 22 December—talks on allowances on-going
Pay talks between COSLA and the unions representing craft workers have now concluded, with the pay award being agreed.
The deal is the same as that for local government employees and will be paid on 22 December, including backpay. Your holiday allowances will be updated with the extra leave at the end of the year.
For clarity: all Council workers are local government employees and have been since 2013. The aspect from the craft national terms you keep is around the tool allowance and overalls allowance.
Talks on the allowances are on-going—we will update here once details are available.
Craft apprentices are fully aligned to the craft national terms and conditions.
As won by the strike action of August 2022, councils will now pay Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) fees for local government workers across Scotland. These are mandatory fees for workers in social care that must be paid each year, so this victory puts money back in the pockets of, often low paid, workers.
The SSSC are working on how
We will update here as soon as we hear details of refunds. Read below for how registrations will work.
You will still have to re-register each year, but you will not pay a fee. When registering online select the option ‘I work for a local authority (local council)’.
The MySSSC payment screen will soon encourage local government workers not to pay a fee. In future MySSSC will recognise that you are a local government worker and not ask for a fee.
SSSC won’t issue invoices for fees due in December. Instead, they will send an email advising they do not need to pay a fee.
Unite members will be relieved to hear that the 2022 pay deal will now be implemented – finally!
Today COSLA confirmed that the sticking points of the 1 day’s annual leave and payment of SSSC registration fees will be in perpetuity as offered and accepted by a members’ ballot.
Despite pressure being applied to accept a partial deal, Unite would like to thank you all for your continued support and determination to get the full deal.
Together we will always be strong!
The new rates, and your backpay, will be paid on 22 December 2022.
One day annual leave will be added to your entitlement soon. As the pay deal takes effect from April, there was around a half day accrued in the last leave year. We are in discussions about how this will be added to your entitlement.
For details of the pay deal, and to see a rough calculation of what it will mean for you, see our post from September.
Striking workers will lose the pension contributions for each day they were on strike. However you can buy back lost pension.
Please read the information below from HR for details.
For each strike day, you lose both your contributions and your employer’s contributions to your pension pot.
However, there is an option to buy back lost pension via an Additional Pension Contribution (APC). The cost of the lost pension is calculated based on age-related factors rather than being a fixed percentage of the member’s salary.
For strike action, pension members are expected to pay 100% of the cost of buying back pension. If the strike action is less than 10 days, then members must make a lump sum payment rather than spreading the cost over a period of time.
Use the buy lost pension calculator to get a quote for buying back any lost pension contributions and read details on your pension if you’re away from work.
To buy back lost pension call HR on 0131 469 5555.
If you have access Halo complete the ‘Pension buy back’ form there.
You must make your request to buy back your lost pension within 30 days of the strike officially ending.
Note: The strike official ended on 29 September with the acceptance of the offer, not on the last day of strike, as the action was merely suspended.
Today, Unite members accepted the latest pay offer from COSLA, with 71% voting to accept. Read details of the offer and see what it means to you.
Edinburgh waste and cleansing workers led the fight for Scottish local government worker pay.
The strike proved what we knew all along—the undeniable value of waste and cleansing workers, the city’s disease prevention team whose work benefits citizens, businesses and tourists immeasurably, and the power these workers have when organised to take action. The impact was noticed within 12 hours. Edinburgh was turned upside down and this shock made the Scottish Government sit up and take it notice. The action of the waste and cleansing workers brought the First Minister to the table to negotiate a resolution, despite the government’s prior insistence that it had nothing to do with them.
Overwhelmingly, the public stood by us and recognised that our fight is their fight. The attacks on working people in this country are being resisted and we are at the forefront, showing that organised, disciplined workers are ready for the fight for fair pay to weather the cost of living crisis. Edinburgh residents and visitors have shown their support and solidarity, recognising that local government workers are essential, yet unappreciated and unvalued by the Scottish Government.
Continue reading “Pay offer accepted—looking back on the strike”