Unite members working in Scotland’s local authorities have voted to reject the revised pay offer put to them by Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the body that represents councils in Scotland.

The result of the ballot on the revised offer was 55 per cent to reject and 45 per cent to accept.

The revised offer of 3.5 per cent (2018), 3 per cent (2019) and 3 per cent (2020) did not include a ‘trigger clause’ which would allow for the re-opening of the three year pay offer if, as predicted, Brexit causes inflation to rise. The revised pay offer also fails to restore local authority workers to the levels of real terms' pay from 10 years ago.

The ballot for Unite craft members working across Scotland’s local authorities will close on 4 February.

Unite representatives will now hold a meeting to discuss the next stage in the process which could result in strike action.

Wendy Dunsmore, Unite industrial officer, said: “This result is clear indication that our members remain unhappy with COSLA’s offer. Our members have suffered pay freezes followed by real terms' cuts for far too long. This has impacted most on the lowest paid workers across the councils. COSLA will need to dig a bit deeper if we are to avoid industrial action.”

ENDS

For more information contact Wendy Dunsmore on: 07764655756