Frontline staff need a flat rate offer

GMB tells Scottish Government ‘frontline staff need a flat rate offer’ ahead of crisis talks

Responding today (Tuesday 30 August) to the Scottish Government’s request for a meeting with local government unions this afternoon over the 2022/23 COSLA pay offer, GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services said:

“Our members need a flat rate offer because that means more consolidated money goes into the pockets of frontline workers delivering the services our communities depend on.

“Unions have been clear about this from the submission of our initial pay claim and right through negotiations over the weekend - the prospect of a Heads of Service getting four times more money than a bin collector, school cleaner or home carer is simply not credible.

“We think the public will support the argument that a fairer share of money goes to workers who were visible in their communities throughout the pandemic, those collecting waste, supporting kids, and tending to the vulnerable, while their bosses had the relative safety of working from home.

“We say this to the Scottish Government and COSLA: A flat rate offer can be easily tabled. It’s not about affordability, it’s a straightforward choice about whether political leaders want to put more consolidated money into the wages of frontline workers or not.”

ENDS

Contact: GMB Scotland Communications on 07976 447077.