Early years workers in nine council areas to walk out in row over pay

School and early years staff from nine local authority areas are set to walk out three weeks into the school term amid a dispute over pay.

A three-day strike will start on September 6 for education staff in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, Orkney, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire councils.

It comes as waste workers in Edinburgh are on strike over a pay offer of 3.5% from local authority umbrella body Cosla, which unions have called "derisory".

More workers will join their colleagues in the capital later this month to protest over the pay offer, with more than 13,000 Unison members expected to strike.

GMB Scotland have also confirmed school and early years staff in Glasgow and East Renfrewshire will strike on the three days.

About 1,200 staff from Glasgow and 150 from East Renfrewshire will take part in the walk out.

A 5% pay increase has been offered by Cosla, but unions have demanded further information on the "vague" promise before a decision can be made whether to accept it.

Unison Scotland has said more staff will disrupt schools, early years centres and nurseries, as well as current strikes at waste and recycling centres.

It is understood to be the largest strike among council workers since the Trade Union Act was introduced in 2016.

Johanna Baxter, Unison Scotland's head of local government, said they have not had a pay offer, and instead have only had "talk offers".

She added: "Until we can explain to Unison members how a pay offer might impact on them, council workers have been left with no choice but to strike.

"Unison has been demanding pay talks for months and Cosla and the Scottish Government are still dragging their heels. Inflation is predicted to rise to more than 13%, and our members are struggling as fuel, food and household bills go through the roof.

"Until we have a decent pay offer that we can put to UNISON members our strike action will continue and thousands of school and early years workers will be talking action across nine councils in Scotland."

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, said: "It is ridiculous that we are six months down the line since staff rejected the initial 2% and unions are still trying to get an offer on the table that could help mitigate working poverty for tens of thousands of key workers in local government.

"Our members in schools and early years are among the lowest paid in our councils yet deliver vital services that support our kids' education, help keep them fed, and their schools clean and safe - all too often they are forgotten workers of the Scottish education system."

Local government minister Shona Robison said: "The increased pay offer to local government workers by councils is a welcome step forward and has been supported by the Scottish Government's commitment of an additional £140 million for council workers' pay on a recurring basis.

"As the employers, these pay negotiations are a matter for local authorities and unions - the Scottish Government has no formal role. However, throughout discussions, we have sought to work collaboratively with Cosla while providing full transparency around our financial position.

"The Scottish Government encourages local authorities and trades unions to take forward meaningful dialogue and, while this is happening, for strike action not to take place.

"All areas of the public sector are having to make challenging savings to stay within budget. The UK Government has cut the Scottish Government's budget and not adjusted it for inflation, exacerbating the financial situation for both Government and councils.

"Nevertheless, we have sought to do what we can within the resources available to us to support a meaningful revised offer in the face of the cost of living emergency."