A second wave of strike action by Perth and Kinross school catering and waste collection contract staff is set to go ahead after unions rejected the latest pay offer.
Both Unite and GMB Scotland unions - who represent Tayside Contracts members and local bin collectors respectively - refused Cosla’s (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) five per cent pay rise offer, with add-ons, on Monday.
The next phase of GMB strike action will now take place over September 7-10, with Unite strike action set to take place on days over September 6-13.
Perth Academy and Fairview School will close over September 7-9 due to the strikes.
The latest round of staff walkouts follows waste collection strikes held last Friday to Monday.
Royal Mail workers are also set to continue strike action next week from September 8-9 in a separate pay and working conditions row.
Following days of intense negotiations, the new offer tabled by Cosla was labelled a “waste of precious time” by Unite’s local government committee, as union bosses felt the structure of the proposal continues to “disproportionately hit the lowest paid”.
The offer remains a five per cent rise on average across the local government pay grades with a varying one-off payment - for the lower paid it is estimated to be around £989.
The offer includes a minimum pay uplift of £1925, based on a 37-hour working week, which matches the offer made to local government south of the border.
However, in Scotland only part of this payment will be consolidated into council workers ongoing pay, the rest will be delivered via one-off payments.
Those earning less than £20,500 – around one in five of the council workforce – will receive a pro-rata gross pay increase in 2022 equal to £2000.
There will be the removal of SSSC fees for all roles and grades where applicable, including social workers and social care workers among others.
And one additional day’s leave for all was also tabled.
But following the latest push back further crisis talks between the unions and Cosla are set to be scheduled.
Unite industrial officer Wendy Dunsmore said: “Unite has rejected outright the latest pay offer from COSLA.
“The structure of the offer continues to disproportionately and unfairly effect the lowest paid with the majority of those being women.
“In real terms it leaves the lowest paid workers no better-off and a significant proportion of the offer does not enhance overtime, allowances or pensions.
“The offer remains unacceptable and it represents a waste of precious time.
“We understand the gravity of the situation across the country but equally our members are facing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.
“Unite’s strike action remains scheduled for next week unless COSLA gets back to us with a credible offer which addresses our primary concerns.”
GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services Keir Greenaway said the COSLA pay offer was “not credible” in the grip of the “biggest cost-of-living crisis in 40 years”.
UNISON, Scotland’s largest local government union, on Monday recommended that council workers reject COSLA’s latest pay offer.
UNISON has confirmed that strike dates in waste and recycling, schools and early years, that have already been notified to the local authorities in which it has legal mandates, will continue as planned during the period of consultation.
COSLA’s resources spokesperson councillor Katie Hagmann responded saying the offer has “stretched” their finances “like never before”.
She added: “Council leaders have said consistently throughout these negotiations that we absolutely value and are grateful to all of our local government workforce.
“It is perhaps only when waste starts piling up and there is the prospect of further disruption to life with school closures that others see the hidden value local government services deliver each and every day of the year in our towns, villages and cities.”
She concluded: “We have done everything we possibly can to get to this stage and that this offer – which is still on the table - is as good as it gets.”
