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Ballot votes YES
for action For the first time in eleven years, council staff have voted for strike action to win a decent pay offer. The first strike day is 29 August, with the follow up days coming in September. "Our members have been left with no choice. They do not want to strike but what can they do when they are offered 2.5%, half the average settlement this year in the public and private sectors?”, said Dougie Black, one of the national negotiators. "For five out of the last six years we have had pay cuts with settlements falling below inflation. This year the offer is over 2% lower than the top independent projected inflation figure. "Scottish council staff are being paid on average £17.50 a week less than their English counterpart. This offer was never a serious attempt to address pay”. The one day stoppage by all staff on 29 August will be followed by all staff striking for a further two days and three days (dates to follow - it is hoped to link them with a meeting of the employers to exert maximum pressure) It will also be backed up by indefinite strike of selected groups of staff. "We are fighting for the full 5% or £500 and a £5 minimum wage and the employers are well aware of that”, said Dougie Black. "But if a substantial improvement that falls short of that is offered, we have a duty to put that to members to let them decide”. "But let us be absolutely clear. If we do not deliver wholeheartedly on this action, if we do not show the employers we are not prepared to settle for 2.5%, we will face enormous problems not just on pay, but on a whole range of conditions in the months and years to come.” UNISON will continue to push the employers to negotiate and come up with a decent offer to avoid the need for action. But so far the employers will not talk.
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Modest and fair pay claim "We believe our claim is both fair and affordable and we are appalled at an offer which is less than inflation, less than average earnings, and less than other pay increases in the public sector”, says Dougie Black, one of the lead national negotiators. The union's pay claim submission to the employers sets out in detail why we must fight on pay this year. "This year's claim for staff in Scottish local government is lodged at a time of major change and upheaval for councils and our members who work for them”, says the claim. The increases are aimed at addressing the problem of a large number of low paid employees in local government and are required to help restore and maintain living standards of employees who have seen their pay eroded considerably in comparison with those in the private sector and other areas of the public sector. "The Trade Union Side is aware that the Scottish Executive is making additional resources available to Scottish local government in 2000/01 and that Government Supported Expenditure (GSE) is up 3.6%, Aggregated External Finance (AEF) is up 2.9% and Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) is up 3.5%. ", says the claim. "After years of real cuts in local government expenditure we believe our claim for 2000/01 is affordable. The claim is both modest and fair.”
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Why we must make the action work The 2.5% offer is
They can afford a decent rise - councils got a 3.6% rise in Government Supported Expenditure. The offer does nothing to deal with low pay. Negotiations are exhausted. Industrial Action is the ONLY way to change the employers offer.
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Pay facts
The Claim
Our claim is for 5% or £500 (whichever is the greater) and a £5 per hour minimum rate.Pay Cut
Independent forecasts for inflation in 2000 range from 3% to 4.6%, almost double the offer - that makes it a pay cut!Average rises 5.1%
Average earnings are growing at 5.1% overall, almost double what we are being offeredPrivate and Public get more
In May, other public sector earnings were rising at 3.8% and Private sector at 4.8%. The offer doesn't even keep pace, never mind catch up!.
Exemptions and life and limb cover
All members are expected to follow the democratic decision of the ballot.
Now we have a majority vote for action, all members will be expected to come out. However, in the past there have been exemptions and this strike is likely to follow the same pattern.
The following categories have been exempt before, so long as they donate strike day earnings to the hardship fund. It is likely to be the same this time:
1. Members who are pregnant - strike action has an impact on Maternity Rights
2. Members in final year of service - striking would impact on their pension
3. Members not affected by the pay dispute (eg chief officers, craft workers)
4. Members asked by branches to provide life and limb cover on strike days.
A YES vote gives authority to the union to call a strike. It also gives authority to ask certain members not to strike to fulfil our obligations under any emergency cover agreement.
Pregnant members or members in last year of service should tell their local steward as soon as possible and get an exemption application from their branch secretary.
Areas where life and limb cover may be requested will be under discussion with senior management in individual councils.
As soon as details are available, local branch officers will liaise with stewards convenors.
No cover should be provided without the agreement of Branch Strike Committees.
Ballot problems?
Everything possible was done to ensure all members got a ballot paper.
A paper was sent out for every single member but we know there were some problems because people had changed address.
But we are now also hearing that some members had a problem with the helpline.
If you did, or if you had another problem, please let us know so we can investigate and put it right.
Strike: Your questions answered
What is the strike plan?
There will be a further one day strike on 16 November to follow 29 August and 20 September backed up by all-out action by selected groups. Currently over 600 members are on indefinite strike.
Who will be on strike?
On the one day actions - everyone employed by the 32 councils in Scotland except: chief officers; craft workers; voluntary sector members. The reason for this is if a lead employer is being balloted on an industrial dispute only members employed by that employer who are party to the dispute can be balloted.
Why does it need to be strike?
Because it is the only way to shift the employers and protect members.If we only had selective action, work to rule or boycotting certain tasks, the members concerned could be at risk of being ‘picked off'. We would then have to come out on strike to protect them.
The problem with that is:-
- the employer sets the agenda for when we strike, not us.
- the members at risk have to wait for a ballot and by that time it could be too late.
- The employers and members need to know from the beginning that everyone is prepared to take action.
What if I voted No?
Members were balloted on whether they were prepared to be instructed to strike. The majority voted for strike so everyone is bound by that decision. Obviously if the vote had gone the other way, everyone would have been expected not to strike.
Is anyone exempt?
Members in their last year before retirement and pregnant members are exempt because of the effects on pensions and maternity conditions.All other members will be on strike unless there are ‘life and limb' exemptions
Life & Limb exemptions
Management will request life and limb cover and the union will respond by exempting some members.However, this will only be for real life and limb issues, not just to avoid inconvenience.
What is the effect on superannuation?
Very little unless you are in your last year of service. Details will follow.
Do I get strike pay?
For action lasting more than three working days you qualify for strike pay for the whole strike at £12.50 per day.
What if I'm a voluntary sector or craft worker?
You will not be on strike and you will not be picketed. It would be good however if you could make a donation to any hardship fund.
Am I expected to picket?
It would be good if you could. Pickets are there to:
- peacefully persuade others to honour the strike vote
- gather information to feed into the branch so it knows what's happening
- show the public what is happening
Is the ballot result enough to call a strike?
Yes. Obviously we would have preferred a bigger return but you cannot count people who did not vote.Most Council elections attract a much lower turnout than this ballot but you don't hear councillors saying there shouldn't be a council!
In addition 68% of those voting rejected the revised offer and backed escalation.
Won't striking just save them money?
Nobody can afford to strike - the question is can we afford not to?Yes, the employers will save. But they will save even more if they get away with the offer. What will it be next year? We will fall even further behind. And remember, whatever the rise next year, it will bring a lot more money if it is based on a better deal being won this year.
Will we win?
If we act together, of course we will!
Strike Day Leaflets
Two leaflet layouts are available for use on strike days. One for other workers and one for the public.
These are in Portable Document Format which means you can print them off directly and copy them for local use. You will need Adobe Acrobat. If you do not have it, you can get it free from http://www.adobe.com/
They are set up as two A5 leaflets on an A4 sheet so you can run them off and cut them or pass them to a printer.
- Click here for the other workers leaflet "Why you should join your colleagues on strike"
- Click here for public leaflet "Sorry for the disruption to your council services"
Date: 1 September 2000
Strikes to escalate as CoSLA refuses increase
Branches representing around 80,000 UNISON members working for Scotland's 32 local authorities at a meeting today(Friday) rejected a rephased pay offer from the Scottish employers.
The meeting heard that the Scottish employers had refused to increase the offer, merely suggesting a restructuring of the award to give 2% backdated to April (the settlement date) with a further 1%from October 2000. This represents 2.5% on the paybill - a figure that UNISON has already rejected.
This prompted a clear rejection from all the branches represented.
UNISON also agreed that their campaign of industrial action would be escalated. UNISON members will strike again for one day later this month. In addition selective strikes by key groups of staff will be undertaken. This was agreed at the meeting of UNISON's local government branches in Scotland today. The precise date for the further action will be announced later.
Last week's action caused chaos to local services across Scotland, disrupting refuse collection, ferries, housing offices, schools, planning, cash collection, leisure centres and many others. Emergency Services were maintained, for the most part by agreement between UNISON and the council, or by decision of the union themselves. UNISON says that emergency cover will continue to be maintained.
Jane Carolan, Leader of UNISON's negotiators said
"Unfortunately the employers did not take notice of our clear warnings that they shouldn't bring us back to talks simply to offer the same amount. 2.5% has been rejected by our members before and is again. We have therefore been forced to escalate our action."We are still prepared to talk to the employers at any time, but reiterate that they must have an improved offer.
"UNISON is not prepared to sit back and let Scotland's local government workers receive the lowest rise in the UK public sector. We want to shield the public as much as we can, but we want to bring this matter to a head as soon as possible."