Hi, I am Lorraine Thomson. I am a UNISON member, and I am the Branch Secretary for the UNISON Stirling Branch and the Chair of UNISON Scotland’s Education Issues Group.
Many services are still recovering and feeling the effects from the pandemic, Holyrood continues to underfund councils, and the failure to provide local government workers with an inflation busting pay rise in the midst of a cost of living crisis continues to put a strain on a largely overworked workforce.
In real terms you have been offered another pay cut and not a pay rise.
The services provided by council workers are what makes a decent society possible. They are not a drain on our society, but an achievement of our society.
UNISON members deserve a fair pay rise. Their fuel costs have went up. Their heating costs have went up. Their food costs have went up! The cost of everything has gone up. But their pay has not!
That is why we are asking members who work in Waste Services and Early Years and Schools to vote yes for strike action.
Your pay ballot should be hitting your doorstep now and it is in a blue envelope. You should return it as soon as possible.
The ballot is open until 29 July.
We need to show decision makers that we are serious about the cost of living crisis and what comes into our pay packets.
Vote yes for strike action.
Strike action is always a last resort, but local government workers are again being overlooked for a decent pay rise. Enough is enough!!
Stirling UNISON 