Dumfries and Galloway Council is facing a fresh threat of strike action after unions submitted a 12 per cent pay claim for this year.
Unison, GMB and Unite have submitted a joint claim and warned the Holyrood Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) against using staff as a “political football”.
The three unions represent around 200,000 members of staff at councils across the country and the claim would represent a £4,000 pay rise for each full time worker.
In their joint letter to COSLA, Unison’s Johanna Baxter, Unite’s Wendy Dunsmore and the GMB’s Kate Greenaway pointed out their members are facing a squeeze on household finances in the months ahead.
They wrote: “Inflation is currently running at 13.4 per cent – the highest level in over four decades – and for the value of staff wages not to fall back even further, they must at least keep pace with predicted rises in the cost of living, which Treasury forecasts predict will average 10.7 per cent for 2023.
“The trade unions are clear that this year’s pay settlement must not only protect workers’ pay from falling back further but should start to reverse the many years of real-terms cuts to wages through pay restoration.
“This pay claim is therefore designed to protect the lowest paid workers but also start to bring workers earnings back into line with where they should be.”
Last year’s pay dispute was only resolved in September after members voted to accept a flat rate increase of £1,900 for those earning less than £39,000.
That came after a summer of action across much of Scotland but in Dumfries and Galloway trade union members didn’t hit the ballot threshold for industrial action.
A strike by waste collection workers was narrowly avoided later in the year when a pay deal was agreed.
The Scottish Government has said it is increasing the local government settlement by £570m in the next financial year but COSLA say only around £70 million of this was unallocated and available in real terms.
Members of Dumfries and Galloway Council have warned that the authority could be forced to make cuts to essential services due to budget constraints.
