GMB Scotland members in councils ready to strike over pay

GMB Scotland members in local authorites are ready to strike over pay as a consultative ballot reveals 96% support industrial action if a below-inflation offer is not improved.

Keir Greenaway, the union’s senior organiser in the public sector, said the vote exposed the dismay of workers and their determination to secure a fair pay rise.

He said the 3% rise offered by Cosla, representing the councils, was below inflation – with February’s Retail Price Index running at 3.4% - and councils cannot balance their budgets on the back of workers.

He said: “The result of this ballot will be no surprise to our members in Scotland’s councils and should be no surprise to Cosla either.

“The offer is clearly unacceptable and nowhere close to matching the commitment of council workers, adding pennies to the hourly rate paid to the lowest-paid staff.

“Our members delivering frontline council services are told there is no money but that only seems to mean there is no money to pay them fairly.

“There is money to give 40% rises to council leaders, for example, while senior officers at Scotland’s biggest council needed security vans to haul off their golden goodbyes.

“Our members deserve better than this, so do their colleagues and so does every Scot relying on them to deliver the services Scotland is built on.”

The consultative ballot of GMB Scotland members across Scotland’s councils revealed 96% of those voting supported industrial action to secure a better offer from Cosla, paving the way for a formal vote on industrial action.