We deserve a living wage

by John Stevenson

Up to 5,000 UNISON local government members, joined by GMB and Unite colleagues, marched through Edinburgh on 24 September to demand fair pay. There were also major events in Aberdeen, Dumfries, Dundee and Inverness.

"2.5% is not enough. It was not enough in August and it is certainly not enough now", Angela Nicoll told the rally in the capital's Princes Street Gardens.

Angela, a young member and West Dunbartonshire branch secretary, was joined on the platform by UNISON's Matt Smith, Glynn Hawker and Jane Carolan.

In a rousing speech Jane Carolan said that no-one wanted to be on strike but "we cannot afford not to be on strike.

"When you go to Asda and think, can I really afford to put that in the basket, you know why you're on strike.

"And when the mortgage demand comes in, you really know why you're on strike".

Demanding that the Scottish Government face up to its responsibility, Jane added, "If there is a problem with Scottish Government finance, then I expect a Scottish Government to get in there and fix it, and fix it now".

As on the last strike day, we updated the website and strike blog constantly through the day. Click here for photos, reports, videos and the srike day blog.

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