Renfrewshire’s two largest trade unions have voted to accept the revised local government pay offer.
Unite and Unison revealed earlier today that their members had voted to accept the deal which would see Renfrewshire Council’s lowest-paid workers receive an additional £2,000 per year.
The offer was made by COSLA and the Scottish Government earlier this month after Renfrewshire waste workers and school staff threatened to strike.
The new offer, backdated to April, sees those earning up to £20,500 given an increase of £2,000.
Workers on between £20,000 and £39,000 will get an additional £1,925 with higher earners on between £39,000 and £60,000 given a blanket five per cent uplift.
There will be a maximum increase of £3,000 for those earning above £60,000.
One extra day of leave has also been worked into the proposal as has the removal of social care registration fees.
Members of The GMB union accepted the offer earlier this week.
The Paisley-based chairman of Unison’s local government committee, Mark Ferguson, said: “I want to thank all council workers, particularly those who took industrial action.
“Without your commitment, we would never have secured this deal. I am pleased we have secured this pay rise.
“But let’s not pretend it will be the only thing that will protect council workers against the cost of living crisis – we have much more work to do and we are already running our next campaign for improved council services and better pay and conditions for all council workers.”
Waste and recycling workers went on strike in East Renfrewshire and several other local authorities over an eight-day period in August.
A second strike, which would have seen schools closed and bin collections halted again, was suspended earlier this month when COSLA and the Scottish Government issued a fourth pay offer.
Wendy Dunsmore, Unite’s lead negotiator for local government, added: “Unite has delivered a pay package worth around £600 million for around a quarter of a million local government workers.
“Let’s make no mistake about this: it was the strike action and resolve shown by Unite members which has secured a deal worth £2,000 for the lowest-paid workers who are predominately female.”
It is reported that more than half of Scotland’s 250,000 council workers are earning less than £25,000 a year for a 37-hour week.
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