School strikes in Scotland are at an end after members of a trade union voted to accept a pay offer from COSLA.

Support staff in schools have been pushing for improved pay and conditions, with members from GMB, Unite and Unison all walking out.

The former two accepted what COSLA, the pay body, stated was a final offer but Unison members voted overwhelmingly to reject.

However, earlier this month a new offer was put forward containing an additional £17.2m in funding to backdate pay to April 1, 2023 and the establishment of a taskforce to reach a £15 per hour minimum wage by April 1 2026 and no later than the same date in 2027, which the union advised members to accept.

Unison members across all of Scotland’s councils voted to accept the latest offer by a margin of 69.6% to 30.4%.

However, leaders warned COSLA that it must deliver on its pledges, and make future negotiations less fraught.

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Unison Scotland’s head of local government, Johanna Baxter said: “This deal is long overdue and was hard fought for by Unison members.  COSLA urgently need to review the bargaining process to ensure that future pay negotiations progress quickly and with as little disruption as possible. 

"The improvements secured by Unison in these negotiations help address low pay and support those in the squeezed middle. 

"Delivering a minimum rate of pay of £15 per hour for all local government workers by April 2026 will go a long way to tackling low pay and will make a real different to people’s lives.

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"Backdating the full offer to 1st April 2023 means those on very modest incomes are protected during the cost of living crisis too.

"It was Unison members who stood on picket lines to fight for this improved deal.  It was Unison negotiators who brokered it.  And it will be Unison that fights to ensure that all of the commitments it contains are delivered in full.

"And government at local and national level should be aware that we aren’t going to be bullied into believing its council staff expecting fair pay that threatens services and jobs by a government proposing a financially feckless council tax freeze."

Chair of Unison Scotland’s local government committee, Mark Ferguson said: “Over the past few months, from the employers original offer to today, the action of Unison members has secured more than an additional £100m into the pockets of local government workers.

"The commitment to deliver a minimum of £15 per hour for local government workers is ground-breaking and should see significant increases for those on the lowest pay for at least the next three years.  Where previous offers only offered talks about the possibility of this being achieved, the improvements Unison secured make sure it become a reality. 

"This has been a long-standing Unison objective to help those on the very lowest pay and we will work hard with COSLA on the practicalities of delivering it.

"I want to thank Unison members for taking action that has helped secure this improved deal.  Our membership has been growing at unprecedented rates over the past few months which demonstrates that workers know Unison will deliver for them.”

Commenting, councillor Katie Hagmann, COSLA’s resources spokesperson, said: “It is great to finally get this deal over the line, I am pleased with today’s news that Unison members have joined their GMB and Unite colleagues in voting to accept the strong offer from COSLA.

“Throughout this challenging process, we have listened carefully to our Trade Unions, met all their asks, and worked with Scottish Government to put an incredibly strong half a billion pound pay package forward.

"For the sake of everyone in our local government workforce, who are delivering essential front-line services, I am pleased that the pay offer has now been accepted by all of our trade union colleagues.”