Strike ballot to open for North Lanarkshire nursery staff amid dispute

Unison, which is representing many of the 375 staff working in the child care centres, said the council is proposing to make early years workers (grade 9) redundant, then re-employ them on a lower wage (grade 7). The trade union says the move may mean affected full-time staff could see a pay cut of up to £6,500.

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The council says the term "fire and rehire" to describe its plans is inaccurate. It insists those affected have a number of options including applying for voluntary severance or early retiral on enhanced terms. The local authority also says a budget gap of £28.3million had to be addressed.

A consultative ballot by Unison in April saw an overwhelming majority (96.9%) voting to reject the plans to downgrade their posts with more than 9 in 10 (91%) voting in favour of industrial action. 

Marie Quiqley, Unison North Lanarkshire branch secretary, said rather than facing a pay cut the early years workers should be getting a pay rise amid increasing challenges to support youngsters with more complex educational needs caused by the pandemic.

Unison's Scottish Secretary Tracey Dalling.    Photo Colin Mearns

“Strike action is always the last resort but early years practitioners have made it very clear that they will do what it takes to have these plans scrapped," she said.

“These are the workers who nurture young children and prepare them for school, identifying their needs and ensuring they are met.  

“Demands on early years practitioners are increasing because they’re seeing more children with increased educational needs, as a result of being unable to socialise during the pandemic."

Ms Quiqley accused the council of trying to force a pay cut onto women workers.

“At a time when it’s harder than ever to make ends meet, these mostly women workers are being asked to do the same work for considerably less.  

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“The council needs to put an immediate end to these plans and start prioritising children, and the workforce our young people rely upon," she said.

Audrey Malloy, Unison regional organiser, said: “This is real people and real families who are being affected by these outrageous proposals.

“North Lanarkshire Council say they can’t afford it, instead they should be asking if they can afford not to. They are jeopardising children’s entire education if they don’t ensure young people are properly supported from the very start. The attainment gap will grow and children and their families will suffer. 

“Our early years practitioners don’t want to be on a picket line, they want to be in nurseries working with children, but the council is leaving them very little choice. The whole community has been rallying in support of the workforce, it’s high time the council realised their value too.” 

Nurseries in North Lanarkshire could close their doors if the nursery workers go on strike.

Tracey Dalling, Unison Scottish Secretary, said: “To fire and re-hire workers is not only an outright scandal, it’s completely against both Labour and Scottish government policy.  

“Councils across Scotland are feeling the funding squeeze, but slashing workers’ pay and putting the future of young people at risk is not the way forward. 

“Unison is right behind our early years practitioners, and we will continue to fight these proposals every step of the way.” 

A spokeswoman for North Lanarkshire Council said: "We have received notification of the intention of Unison to ballot a limited number of early years staff.

"It is entirely inaccurate for Unison to describe the changes proposed in Early Years as 'fire and re-hire', which is where employees are not offered alternatives, and it is irresponsible of them to portray it in this way.

"Employees affected have a number of options including applying for voluntary severance or early retiral on enhanced terms. Redeployment opportunities are available and any staff remaining will be subject to multi-year protection of their current salary.

"One-to-one meetings are being held with every affected employee to discuss their individual circumstances in detail. This exercise will be concluded over the next few weeks and we hope to achieve a suitable outcome for all.

"These changes align the staffing structure with the previously agreed model and were decided as part of the council's budget-setting process for 2023-24 in which a budget gap of £28.3million had to be addressed."

The union's formal strike ballot will run from tomorrow until 10am on Monday, 26 June. 

Unison is Scotland’s biggest public service union and counts many early years workers among its members.

In the consultative ballot in April, just 3% of the union's members did not reject North Lanarkshire Council’s plan to downgrade early learning practitioner jobs.

In March thousands of nursery workers turned out in front of the council's Motherwell headquarters for a demonstration against the plans.

The opening of the formal ballot on Monday comes days after a watchdog report warned the Scottish Government over the cost of implementing its flagship childcare expansion policy.

Audit Scotland said the majority of infrastructure projects and recruitment required to implement the 1,140-hour expansion for three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds has been successfully completed.

But the report released on Thursday warned the expansion has left the sector "fragile", with private nurseries and childminders facing "budget pressures and risks around workforce", while councils have spent more than £100 million over planned budgets on capital projects to facilitate it.

The report said: "The Scottish Government and councils did well to put in place 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare (ELC) by August 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Councils completed most of the infrastructure projects and had significantly expanded the workforce.

"Take-up among three and four-year-olds remains high and most parents are happy with the flexibility available.

"More two-year-olds are now receiving funded ELC, but many more are estimated to be eligible. The Scottish Government and partners have made progress with data-sharing arrangements to allow councils to identify eligible two-year-olds.

"This is a flagship policy which underpins broader ambitions to reduce child poverty and to support economic transformation. Around £1 billion is invested in it annually. But the sector is fragile."

Audit Scotland urged the Scottish Government to work with councils and private providers to develop "long-term workforce plans", which the report described as "crucial to inform future decisions on funding and workforce which are key risks to the sustainability of the sector".

The expansion, which went live in August 2021 after delays, required a substantial capital investment from councils, funded by £496 million from Government.