School and early years workers across Lanarkshire will go on strike for three consecutive days next month.
Members of trade union Unison in North and South Lanarkshire will walk out from September 6-8 in protest over local government pay.
The industrial action is in addition to the already-announced waste and recycling strikes in both council areas, taking place from this Friday to Monday and again from September 7-10.
Unison say that the action by thousands of workers across nine council areas “will disrupt schools, early years centres, nurseries and waste and recycling centres, in the largest strike among council workers since the trade union act was introduced in 2016”.
The school and early years strike dates have been confirmed following what the union describes as a “lack of progress in talks with [local government organisation] Cosla over pay”.
Johanna Baxter of Unison said: “We are in urgent negotiations with the employer to try and find a solution, but so far we have only had an offer of talks – we have not had a pay offer.
“Until we can explain to members how a pay offer might impact on them, council workers have been left with no choice but to strike.
“We have been demanding pay talks for months and Cosla and the Scottish Government are still dragging their heels.
“Inflation is predicted to rise to more than 13 per cent and our members are struggling as fuel, food and household bills go through the roof – until we have a decent pay offer that we can put to members, our strike action will continue.”
A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council said: “We have just received formal notification from Unison and are considering the consequences for education services on those days.” North Lanarkshire Council has also been contacted for comment.
Representatives of trade unions GMB and Unite were also due to meet Cosla today; with GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway saying: “Our members want clarity about whether this proposal comes with the assurance of a flat-rate award, a key demand of the union pay claim.
“The prospect of the highest-paid getting the biggest cash increases in any offer would be unacceptable, let alone one that is still well below inflation. In the meantime, all existing and planned strike action remains on.”
Unite industrial officer Alison Maclean said: “There remains insignificant detail on the five per cent pay offer and what this in reality means for the lowest-paid workers; the offer from Cosla remains a vague aspirational pledge but we can’t take anything to our wider membership unless we have specifics and guarantees.”
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