THOUSANDS of Scottish local government workers are taking part in a first stage ballot on potential strike action in a new pay dispute.
The union Unite Scotland has called for the urgent intervention of Nicola Sturgeon to prevent industrial action involving Scotland's 250,000 local government workers, who help keep the nation's public services running.
Both Unite Scotland and Scotland's largest local government trade union UNISON are balloting members over whether to take action.
It raises the prospect of a strike involving everyone from cleaners, carers, caterers to refuse workers, grave diggers and road maintenance workers.
It comes six months after a survey found that over half of local government workers were prepared to take industrial action to improve working conditions as morale "collapses".
Unite alongside sister trade unions representing the bulk of local government workers in Scotland have rejected the current pay offer of up to 2%.
Unite is currently carrying out a consultative ballot of its thousands of members in local government including craft workers on what action they may wish to take in securing an improved offer.
UNISON, which is also balloting members says the offer contains no provision for restoring pay levels to pre-austerity levels does not do enough for the lowest paid with 55% of workers earning below £25,000 per year.
READ MORE: SNP told to 're-set' councils' relationship after £937m cuts revealed
Unite Scotland in a letter to the First Minister is drawing attention to what it called "over a decade of underfunding and lack of investment in local government".
Pat Rafferty, Unite Scottish Secretary said: “Unite has requested the urgent intervention of the First Minister into this escalating dispute over local government pay. We are in the process of balloting our members recommending a rejection of the paltry offer on the table, and to add insult to injury the majority of local government workers will not receive the £500 thank you payment.
"This just can’t be right and after a decade of local government being starved of funds to the tune of £1bn clearly far more needs to be done to support this neglected section of our public services. The current pay offer is more like a slap in the face rather than a clap for local government workers.”
“The shocking reality is that more than half of all local government workers earn less than £25,000 a year with the majority of those being predominantly women. It’s high time for COSLA and the Scottish Government to support our local government workers, and the First Minister must show a lead.”
Last month, the SNP was accused of having “neglected and mistreated” Scotland’s local councils – amid a warning local authorities have faced real-terms cuts to their non-ringfenced budgets of approaching £1 billion over an eight-year period.
Cosla has warned that some authorities could be left out of pocket and need even deeper cuts following a council tax freeze – with alarm raised that some councils were anticipating raising the charge by more than 3% next year, with no funding from the Scottish Government to cover such an increase.
Research by the Scottish Labour party found that the Scottish Government has cut councils’ non-ringfenced revenue funding by £937.3 million in real teams between 2013-14 and 2021-22.
Unite also raised concern that previously released figures through the COSLA National Benchmarking Overview showed sustained cuts in local government funding totalling £1bn - an 8.3% reduction in real terms - from £10.5 billion in 2010/11 to £9.6 billion in 2017/18.
In a letter to Nicola Sturgeon, Unite highlights that 55% of local government workers earn less than £25,000 per annum, and around 75% of local government workers earn less than the UK national average wage of £32,875.
The current local government pay offer is said to include a 2% rise for those earning £25,000 to £40,000 and a 1% rise for those earning up to £80,000 with a cap of £800.
It is also believed to include a flat rate payment of £800 based on a 37-hour working week giving an underpinning minimum rate of pay of £9.75 per hour for all employees earning up to £25,000.
The Unite Scotland survey of 3000 local government workers in October revealed that nearly three quarters are experiencing workplace stress, and over half rated their workplace morale as "bad or terrible".
It found that workers were regularly working beyond their contracted hours (41%). And nearly one in four said the additional hours worked were unpaid.
Some 84% said low pay was the key issue for local government and 56% were prepared to take industrial action to secure a better pay increase.
The study, carried out in October, found that nearly half identified job security as a "major worry" and 43% said they had had their terms and conditions "cut".
A spokesman for Cosla, the umbrella organisation for Scottish councils, said: “We have made an offer to our trade union colleagues. This offer remains on the table whilst we continue with on-going constructive negotiations.”
An SNP spokesman said: "The SNP will always champion fair funding for local government and fair pay for our public sector workers. That is why - unlike in England where the Tories imposed a public sector pay freeze - all public sector workers in Scotland will receive an pay rise this year.
"On top of this, Scotland’s local authorities - under the SNP government - will receive an increase in revenue funding this year of £335.6m or 3.1 per cent, increasing their funding in cash terms by £1.3bn or 12.1 per cent over the last nine years as well as supporting local authorities to freeze the council tax, helping households across the country with their finances in these times."
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