Unions are pushing for council staff to receive a £3000 salary increase to help them tackle the rising cost of energy prices and inflation.
Unite, Unison and GMB have submitted a pay claim to COSLA, calling for a flat rate increase across all salary points and a minimum wage of at least £12 per hour.
They are also demanding a no-detriment shift to a 35-hour work week, the payment of all professional fees as a result of their employment, agreed guidance on home or hybrid working and the uprating of all allowances in line with inflation figures from October.
It comes as the UK’s rate of inflation rose to 5.4 percent in December – the highest rate in almost 30 years.
David Scott, convenor of the West Dunbartonshire branch of GMB, said: “They have been working harder, doing more and more work, for wages that have simply not kept up with inflation.
“In the last pay deal, it took COSLA and the Scottish Government six months and industrial action in some councils across Scotland to offer a deal members could accept.
“It is up to COSLA and the Scottish Government to stop that happening again.
“GMB also hope that West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) spend more time working with their trade union partners to fight austerity rather than attacking the unions that represent their employees.
“GMB hope WDC will support their staff and apply pressure to the Scottish government and COSLA to offer a decent pay rise.”
His comments came after a row broke out at the end of last year over last year’s pay deal, which was settled just before Christmas.
It was claimed lowest paid council staff were taking out payday loans for Christmas after the local authority said it was unable to hand out the backpay until the end of January due to the complexity of the work. Staff on a four-weekly pay cycle won’t get the money until next month.
Council leader Jonathan McColl said it was unlikely staff would have been paid the cash by the end of the year, claiming expectations were “falsely raised”.
Johanna Baxter, Unison Scotland’s head of local government, said: “Youth workers, care workers, refuse collectors, social workers, teaching assistants, community workers, street cleaners and so many more have gone above and beyond during the pandemic keeping schools open, supporting our NHS, ensuring communities are safe and providing essential services often at risk to their own health.
"After years of declining pay and cuts to local government budgets it is time for COSLA and the Scottish Government to get round the table to ensure sufficient funding is available to give our dedicated local government workers the fair and decent pay rise they deserve.”
Local government pay awards are negotiated and agreed between the trades unions and COSLA, on behalf of local government employers.
A COSLA spokesperson said: “We acknowledge receipt of the pay claim from our SJC trade unions for 2022/23. We will work through the process with our trade union colleagues in the usual manner, recognising the significant constraints presented by the local government finance settlement for 22/23 from Scottish Government.”
