Unions reject council pay offer

Unions say council need to invest in their workforces

The three unions representing local government workers in Scotland have rejected a pay offer made by council leaders.

The deal would have given local authority workers a pay rise of 2.5% for each of the next three years.

The unions said it was less than inflation and did not address losses suffered by members over recent years.

The local government organisation Cosla said it was disappointed.

If you want first class public services, cutting the pay of public sector workers is the wrong way to go about it Dougie Black Unison Scotland

A total of 220,000 local government workers would have been affected by the deal.

The GMB said the rejection of the offer placed the unions on a course for industrial action.

Dougie Black, of Unison Scotland, added: "If you want first class public services, cutting the pay of public sector workers is the wrong way to go about it."

The unions will now call on their members in local government to reject the employers offer in a full consultation.

Further negotiations

Cosla said this was a "good deal" especially given constraints on local government finances.

The organisation's human resources spokesman, Councillor Michael Cook, said: "We are dismayed that a trade union is threatening industrial action at a time when negotiations are ongoing.

"We look forward to further negotiation over the coming weeks to resolve our differences and getting this pay rise into the pockets of our valued workforce."