Council staff strike threat looms
Strike action by council workers across Scotland could be on the cards after union members rejected the pay deal they were offered.
- By Online staff
- Published in the Courier : 04.08.10
- Published online : 04.08.10 @ 03.00pm
Public sector union Unison had previously urged its local members to turn down the council's offer of a 1% increase this year, 0% next year and 0.5% the year after, with the union holding out hope of a 3% one-year increase for 2010-11.
With the public sector union Unison's ballot resulting in an overwhelming 80% rejection of the three-year deal, the possibility of industrial action has not been ruled out as council employees vent their anger at the pay proposals put forward.
Unison has argued that members would effectively be tied into a three-year pay cut if they accepted the current offer, pointing out that chief officials in some local authorities have been given an increase of 2.5% and teachers 2.4%.
Dougie Black, Unison trade union side secretary and lead negotiator, said union leaders will meet other union representatives later this week to decide on what course of action to take now, but he added, "Industrial action is one of a range of possible options we will be considering.
"We will also be seeking an early meeting with the employers to re-open negotiations following this decisive rejection of their offer."
The Scottish Joint Council trade unions were offered 2.5% for 2010-11 as part of the final year of a three-year pay deal agreed in 2008, although that offer was rejected.
At that time, similar multi-year offers were made to the teachers and chief officials, which was accepted.
Many private sector workers have not had a rise for a number of years now, while finance secretary John Swinney has also publicly come out in support of pay restraint within the public sector in the current financial climate.
Dundee
Ken Guild, leader of Dundee City Council, called for a sense of "realism" in negotiations over public sector pay.
Councillor Guild said he believed strike action would be counter-productive for the unions and said he hoped a fair agreement could be reached.
He said financial constraints on councils — Dundee has to make savings of £15 million in the next year — meant both sides had to be realistic in what they were asking for.
"All council pay is done through CoSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities). The individual councils don't enter into individual agreements with employees," he said.
"This is something that will be handled at national level but obviously we will be very much in contact with CoSLA over the latest developments."
Unison regional officer Rory Malone said his members were also keen to avoid strikes — which he said would cripple the local authority — but were standing up for their rights.
He said, "Quite clearly the membership have stayed firm and rejected this offer as it is a three-year pay cut. The latest position is that the joint trade union side are calling for the employers to get back round the table to discuss the way forward to resolve an issue that potentially may lead to a dispute.
"What will happen if the employers refuse to accept our position is we will have to go to a full ballot of the membership asking the question over industrial action."
He said, "The joint trade union side is going to be meeting on Friday and the call has already gone out to the employer to meet again. I believe that will take place in the next couple of weeks and hopefully constructive talks will come out of that.
"We understand the difficulties from next year and thereafter and we are willing to talk with the employers on what is best."
08.48pm - 04.08.2010 R.Doyle - Dundee, Tayside Report This
Surely now, with severe budget cuts and redundancies imminent within the Dundee local authority workforce, all non-emergency overtime working must be stopped.
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