News – Page 30 – Stirling UNISON

LG Pay Update

First set of strike dates confirmed

UNISON have this morning served notice on 8 local authorities of strike dates for waste and recycling members. These dates align with the dates also notified to authorities this morning by the GMB. It is unfortunate that they do not align with the dates Unite have already notified but that was not for the want of trying to achieve an agreed approach.

Please see press release on link below

Strike dates for waste workers confirmed

Strike dates for schools/early years will be confirmed in due course.

We are holding an online general meeting on Thursday 18^th August at 6p.m and all members are required to attend. Please see the following brief agenda below for the meeting. If members able to attend please contact the branch on the following e-mail address thomsonl34s@stirling.gov.uk and a link will be forwarded to you prior to the meeting.

Agenda

Pay update

Motion to transfer monies to IA account

The UNISON Scotland LG leads will be meeting branches with a strike mandate on Monday to discuss preparation for action.

We are also working on supporting materials/advice to members taking action and resources for those who are not so they can demonstrate their support for those Workers taking action on their behalf.

Further information on all of that will follow asap – you will appreciate that things are moving at pace at the moment but we will, as always we will communicate any developments as soon as we have more detail.

Council strikes to go ahead after UNISON rejects derisory 3.5% pay offer

UNISON, the largest union in local government, met today to discuss COSLA’s latest 3.5% pay offer. The union unanimously agreed to reject this revised offer outright and voted overwhelmingly to continue with their strike plans in councils across Scotland.

UNISON rejected the offer as it has not sufficiently improved, falls far short of the Joint Trade Union’s claim (submitted in January) and falls far short of the current rate of inflation, which continues to rise.

The union also made the point that the offer falls far short of the offer made to council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have been offered a £1925 flat rate uplift, which equates to a 10.5% increase for those on the lowest wages.

Johanna Baxter, UNISON head of local government said: “This is another derisory pay offer. We are in a ridiculous position of both our employers and the Scottish Government agree this 3.5% pay offer is not nearly enough, but both are at loggerheads about who should pay for it.

Meanwhile council workers – over half earn less than £25k per year – are worrying about paying the bills. Inflation is predicted to rise to 13.5% and our members are offered a real-terms pay cut which will plunge more of them into debt.

We have written to COSLA to tell them the strike continues in waste and recycling and we will confirm dates for strike action in schools and early years in the coming days.”

2022 school clothing grants

Grants of up to £70 per school age child are now available

UNISON is offering financial support to cover the costs of school clothing to members who are experiencing financial difficulties, due to COVID-19, the cost of living crisis or other circumstances.

Grants of up to £70 per school-age child are available. Only one application can be accepted per household.

UNISON head of welfare Abi Coombs said: “We are acutely aware of the increased financial pressures our members are facing due the cost of living crisis. UNISON There for You are pleased to be launching this fund, offering eligible members grants of £70 per child to help towards the cost of school clothing.”

Am I eligible?

To be eligible, you must meet the following:

You are a member for at least four weeks and have paid four weeks’ subscriptions before 24 June 2022;
You are financially responsible for the child/children and receiving Child Benefit for them;
You (and your partner if applicable) have savings/rolling bank balance(s) of no more than £1,000.

And either:

Your household has a net income of less than £26,000 per annum, or
You are in receipt of Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, or Tax Credit payments.

Further information and the application link is available on UNISON’s financial assistance page.

UNISON is offering financial support to cover the costs of school clothing to members who are experiencing financial difficulties, due to COVID-19, the cost of living crisis or other circumstances.

Grants of up to £70 per school-age child are available. Only one application can be accepted per household.

Am I eligible?

To be eligible, you must meet the following:

You are a member for at least four weeks and have paid four weeks’ subscriptions before 24 June 2022;
You are financially responsible for the child/children and receiving Child Benefit for them;
You (and your partner if applicable) have savings/rolling bank balance(s) of no more than £1,000.

And either:

Your household has a net income of less than £26,000 per annum, or
You are in receipt of Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, or Tax Credit payments.

Further information and the application link is available on UNISON’s financial assistance page.

There for You (UNISON Welfare)

Members experiencing financial and emotional difficulties can contact our welfare charity, There for You, which provides a confidential advice and support service for members and their dependants.

Scottish council staff back industrial action

Thousands of local government workers overwhelmingly rejected the employers’ 2% offer

Thousands of council workers across Scotland have voted to take industrial action, UNISON announced yesterday. The decision comes after the the largest strike ballot among council workers in over a decade.

The action will disrupt schools, early years centres, nurseries and waste and recycling centres across the country.

UNISON members in all councils across Scotland overwhelmingly voted to reject the final offer of 2% from COSLA – the Scottish local government employers’ association – with nine local authority branches exceeding the required 50% turnout threshold required by the Trade Union Act.

UNISON head of local government in Scotland Johanna Baxter said: “COSLA leaders meet on Friday and must put an improved offer on the table if we are to avoid large-scale disruption to council services across Scotland.

“Council workers south of the border were offered a flat rate uplift of £1,925 [Monday], which for those on the lowest pay equates to a 10.5% increase. You have to wonder why council workers north of the border have only been offered a measly 2% increase when the cost of living continues to spiral.

“UNISON has been calling for a flat rate payment to help those on lower incomes. Most council workers earn less than £25k per year.”

Ms Baxter said that it was clear that local government workers have “had enough and are prepared to strike in the coming weeks unless we see a sensible offer on the table on Friday.

“This is the largest strike ballot by local government workers in over a decade and the first-time workers across Scotland have voted to take strike action in these numbers. It really shouldn’t take this for them to receive the recognition, respect and reward that they deserve.”

UNISON Scotland LG Pay

Stirling UNISON members not only met the ballot threshold but also demonstrated a massive strength of feeling on the pay offer with close to 95 % voting to take industrial action if needed to gain an improved offer.

The UNISON Stirling Branch would like to thank all our members that were balloted and voted in the ballot giving us this mandate to fight for a fair pay deal for all Local Government Workers across Scotland.

Local Government workers in Scotland have been offered one of the worst public sector pay offers. This is unacceptable.

Local Government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been made an offer of on average close to 5 %, which is a flat rate increase of £1925 on all pay points, UNISON responded to that offer with “it’s not enough to make up for a decade and more of lost wages.”

NHS workers in Scotland have been offered 5% and are being balloted with a UNISON recommendation to reject.

If you need to be reminded the pay offer in Scotland, 2%, saw the majority of the workforce being offered only £500.

UNISON Scotland LG committee and Branch secretaries will be meeting this week to discuss next steps.

Now we have a mandate for Industrial Action we will keep all members up to date going forward. We will be holding members meetings with members in those services taking action to discuss further detail. We will also be holding meetings with services not taking action and engaging them on how to support striking members that are taking action on their behalf.

Over the Line

This is about your Local Government Pay Ballot. Your pay is very important to UNISON.

Some important information.

To meet Trade Union Act. Legislation for Industrial Action there is a requirement to have 50% of ballot papers returned.

Ballot closes on the 26^th of July.

If you have not received a ballot paper yet and are working in a School, Waste or Recycling, you should have. It may be that the address we have for you is not up to date.

You should call 0800 0857 857 to request a replacement ballot paper.

Why Local Government Workers Need a decent Pay Rise?

With rising cost, energy, food, fuel inflation is now higher that it has been for generations. At the same time Public Sector pay has stagnated which means every local government worker is now far worse off, with many now having to make choices on what to cut back their spending on.

In comparison to other Public Sector workers our government clearly values NHS workers above those working in Local Government having now offered them a 5% pay increase. The 2% offered to Council Workers does nothing to address the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis or the contribution you have made over the last 2 years during COVID and continue to make.

Why it is important to return your ballot paper?

To get a better than 2% pay rise, UNISON recommend that the offer is rejected and that you vote for Strike Action.

By failing to return your ballot paper you will effectively be accepting the 2% increase that has been offered with no prosect of bringing the employers back to the negotiating table. If you care about pay now and, in the future, please return you ballot paper today.

Support The Pay Campaign!

Here are some things that members have been doing to support the campaign.

Watch online:

https://fb.watch/dZzyly8Hp5/

Get involved!

Post, like, share messages on the branch social media.

Send us a picture of you posting your ballot paper or make a video about why pay is important to you we will share this on our social media pages.

Let’s get this ballot over the line together and get a better pay deal for you, our local government workers.