Magnificent strike action brings reopening of talks
by Chris Bartter
|
Standing together against below inflation offer:
A feature of the strike was the level
of anger members felt about pay. Across Scotland,
home carers - some of the lowest paid yet most dedicated
staff - showed they'd had enough by turning out in
force.
Alison Law (right), with fellow
home carer Margaret Dale in Aberdeenshire, slammed
the pay offer and told the Inverurie rally that it
is simply not enough when inflation is set to reach
5%.
"For too long we have accepted
whatever pay rises have been offered to us, even if
it felt inadequate. This time, in an economic period
when families are starting to suffer, we need to stand
together and say NO."
|
General Secretary Dave Prentis visits pickets at 07.15
in a very wet Edinburgh. He then headed off across the
central belt to visit strikers. |
| |
The 24 hour stoppage that closed and disrupted council
services across Scotland on 20 August has won a reopening
of talks with the employers.
As SiU went to print. a meeting of UNISON's Scottish local
government branches welcomed the news that council employers
had suggested further talks and congratulated the members
who went on strike.
Dougie Black, UNISON Regional Officer and Secretary to
the TU negotiators said, "We are pleased that CoSLA has
approached us to reopen talks on this years pay award, following
the successful strike by members of the three unions.
"We also note that the invitation to talks addresses some
of the contentious issues.
Obviously we want a solution to this dispute, so we hope
that discussions around a new offer more acceptable to our
members can start quickly."
The meeting of branches welcomed the news but also agreed
to maintain the dispute and make preparations for further
strike action in the event of any failure of talks.
Dougie said "Members made it very clear on Wednesday that
they want a settlement that protects them from inflation
and does not lock them in to multi-year awards. The talks
are welcome but are not in themselves a solution.
"We will be talking to our fellow unions to agree future
action should it be required and will announce this later."
The meeting also heard that the strike action had been
solidly supported across Scotland with branches reporting
new members joining in force and new stewards coming forward.
headlines . top
|
