A trade union has warned the Government of “disruption” in schools over a pay dispute involving council workers.
Unison said their members are at “breaking point” and claimed statutory industrial action ballots are being prepared.
Earlier this year, the union’s members voted by 88 per cent against a pay offer by council employers.
The offer in March included a flat rate payment of £800 for staff earning up to £25,000, a two per cent uplift for employees on between £25,000 and £40,000, and one per cent for those earning up to £80,000 with a cap of £800.
Unison, which represents staff in the education sector such as janitors, cleaners and caterers, has ramped up their criticism of the pay offer in a letter to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Government.
Johanna Baxter, the union’s head of local government, wrote: "With 88 per cent of our members voting to reject they have sent a very clear message that the current offer is simply not good enough - it does not put enough money in the pockets of members, it does not do enough to recognise the immense contribution they have made to keeping local services running over the past year, or the impact that this has had on them, and it does little to address the significant issue of low pay in local government.
“It should be a significant concern to all of you that 55 per cent of local government workers earn below £25k per annum and 75 per cent of them earn less than the average wage in Scotland of £31k per annum.”
Although unions negotiate with councils on pay for local authority staff, with the exception of teachers, Baxter pointed the finger at COSLA and the Government:
“While COSLA and the Scottish government argue about where the money to make any improvement to the offer is going to come from our members are worried about how they will put food on the table.”
She added: “Our members are at breaking point and will no longer tolerate being used as a political football between your organisations.”
Referring to Unison and two other unions, she flagged up industrial action relating to schools:
“All three trade unions are currently preparing statutory industrial action ballots and, if your discussions do not produce a substantial improvement to the current offer, it is anticipated that our members working in schools will be central to co-ordinated industrial action which will disrupt schools following the summer break.”
A COSLA spokesperson 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.”
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