84% vote to reject—now we prepare to strike
Unite’s consultative ballot results are in and 84% of members in local government across Scotland have voted to reject the pay offer. This sends a clear message to COSLA that this must be improved.
Thanks to all who voted. If you did not receive a ballot, check your contact details by logging into MyUnite or calling 0131 556 9676.
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 financial case for a pay rise
The media is regularly talking about the cost of living crisis and, as consumers, we can see this clearly in price increases in shops, petrol stations, energy bills etc. However, whilst we know everyday costs are rising, we don’t have a clear picture of what this means to our wages and therefore our purchasing power. Nor can we see clearly what a pay rise may mean for us in this context, in both immediate and longer runs.
The straightforward logic says that if inflation is at 11.7% then anything lower than this is a pay cut. Certainly, the paltry 2% offer from CoSLA looks very much like a pay cut but we feel that some hard numbers are required to support this notion.
In an attempt to get a better understanding of this problem we looked at a sample of jobs in the City of Edinburgh Council that pay less than £25,000 per annum for a 36 hour working week. We used the current pay (defined by the CEC pay and grading structure April 2021) as a baseline. Grades 2 and 3 used pay at the top of the grade, for grades 4 and 5 the mid-point was selected. Pay used in this analysis is that before deductions. Table 1 below shows the current grade and full-time (i.e.36hrs) pay for each of the identified council roles.
Continue reading “Council Pay and Cost of Living”
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”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
Today Unite will begin balloting our members to find out
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.
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”Following the result of the consultative ballot on CoSLA’s recent adjustment to the pay offer for 2021/22, our Local Authority Regional Industrial Sector Committee (RISC) has contacted the employer to notify of Unite members’ acceptance of the offer.
However, our RISC has also issued the employer with a warning that the struggle for decent pay and terms and conditions does not end here as next year’s pay negotiations start now. Please see latest newsletter here and read our press release below:
Continue reading “Local government pay dispute update”Following a barely and poorly revised offer from the employer (CoSLA) through the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) Unite is holding a consultative ballot of Local Government Employee members to gain members views on the new offer.
Members will receive a ballot by email, text or post depending on individual preferences and information available to Unite. The ballot consists of two questions: 1. whether to accept or reject the offer; 2. on willingness to participate in industrial action. The email comes from UniteScotland and is entitled “Local Authorities Consultative Pay Ballot – August 2021“. Please check your emails. It was sent Monday 23rd August. Should you not receive your ballot contact Unite by calling: 01414045424
The new offer comprises:
Continue reading “Pay update”