Scottish bin strikes halted as unions consider new pay offer
The proposed wage increase is being called a 'significant improvement' compared to the two previous offers
Last updated 12th Aug 2024
Two of the three unions involved in the bin workers dispute have decided to halt strike action set to hit Scotland this month.
Staff in 26 of the country's 32 council areas planned to walk out from 14 – 22 August after rejecting two previous wage increases made by Cosla.
The new deal currently being put to members would see a 3.6% increase for all grades of staff, with a rise of £1,292 for the lowest paid, equivalent to 5.63%.
The ballot will open on 15 August and close on 5 September.
'A significant improvement'
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser in public services, said: “This offer is a significant improvement on what came before but our members will decide if it is acceptable.
“It is better than that offered to council staff in England and Wales, would mean every worker receives a rise higher than the Retail Price Index and, importantly, is weighted to ensure frontline workers gain most.
“As a gesture of goodwill, we will suspend action until our members can vote on the offer.
“It should never have got to this stage, however, and Scotland’s council leaders have again shown an absolute lack of urgency or sense of realism.
“For months, we have been forced to waste time discussing a series of low-ball offers when it was already clear the Scottish Government needed to be at the table.
"The obvious reluctance of some council leaders to approach ministers has only caused needless uncertainty and threatened disruption.
“That is no way to run a railroad or conduct serious pay negotiations.”
'Members should be applauded for standing firm'
Graham McNab, Unite’s lead negotiator for local government said: “Unite members across all of Scotland’s councils should be applauded for standing firm. They have remained resolute in an effort to secure a fairer and better pay offer."
“We believe that the new pay offer is credible. For the first time in years, it will mean all council workers receiving an above inflation increase."
“Unite will now suspend the eight days of strike action so a ballot can take place on the new offer.”
'There will be hard decisions announced in due course'
It comes after the Scottish Government found additional funding to try and prevent the strikes.
On Friday last week, Finance and Local Government Secretary Shona Robison said the "enhanced envelope" of funding would enable local government body Cosla to make a revised pay offer to unions.
However, First Minister John Swinney said the extra cash made available will have consequences.
He said: "There will have to be some difficult consequential decisions for the Scottish Government because we have to find this money within the remaining budgets that we've got to deploy.
"I'm afraid there will have to be hard decisions announced in due course.
"It will be programmes we will not be able to take forward because of the fact that we're putting in additional money to avoid industrial action in our local authorities.
"That's the hard realities of where we are now in the public finances.
"There's no volume of money that's sitting unallocated. Our money is all allocated.
"There are programmes will have to be stopped because of the investment we're making here."