Union official: Only a better pay offer will halt planned council strikes in Scotland

Council workers across Scotland need a “significantly improved” pay offer if the prospect of strike action is to be averted, a leading trade unionist has insisted.

Keir Greenaway, a senior organiser with GMB Scotland has now challenged both the Scottish Government and local authorities to “step up” and try to resolve the pay dispute.

Council workers in three unions: the GMB, Unison and Unite, have already given their backing to industrial action after rejecting the the 2% pay increase offered to them local authority leaders.

That could see some school staff, early years workers and employees in council cleansing departments all walk out on strike.

Talks have been scheduled for later on Wednesday to try to resolve the pay dispute – something Mr Greenaway said could only happen “if the Scottish Government can find more money” for councils.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, the trade union organiser said: “For me, the Scottish Government has got the ability, has got some levers to raise income for itself to be able to give to public services and it is not taking those options.”

He added: “It is up to the Scottish Government to come on and think of some of those solutions.

“What I know is our members need a significantly improved pay offer.”

Union bosses previously warned that uncollected waste would be 'left to pile' in the streets if council workers take strike action

Mr Greenaway said that half of all council workers in Scotland earned £25,000 a year or less – adding that the 2% pay rise offered “was less than a tenner a week for most of them, so it just didn’t go far enough”.

But he accused both ministers and leaders of the local government body Cosla of lacking the political will to settle the matter.

Mr Greenaway said: “I wouldn’t say we were confident, we haven’t had a meeting with Cosla around pay since March.

“We’ve been making these arguments since then that the Scottish Government needed to step in and find some money for councils, but there has been political inaction from councils and the Scottish Government since March.”

With the prospect of industrial action closing schools and seeing rubbish go uncollected, Mr Greenaway added this could be avoided if a “significantly improved offer is put to our members”.

In such circumstances, he said, union members could consider any improved pay offer and “if that is good enough then industrial action is avoided”.

But Mr Greenaway said: “We question how hard the Scottish Government and Cosla have been working on this.

“The last time we received an offer it was rejected, that was in March, we have not had any discussions or negotiations since, there has been no offer since that point.

“So we have been left in a position where we have had to take a vote for industrial action, and our members have voted because they are incredibly angry and we are looking for the Scottish Government and Cosla to step up.

“Our members are seeing double-digit inflation, they are seeing no sight or sound of an offer, they are supposed to have their pay rise in April and they are looking at fuel increases, gas prices going up again and they are really concerned.

“They are struggling to get by now and they is concern for the future for them and their families.”