Unison members voted in favour to the improved pay offer made by Cosla and the Scottish Government. 

It comes after months of strike actions that saw children out of school and teachers on the picket line as they demanded for better pay.

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Now, Unison have called on Cosla and the Scottish Government to “keep their promise” as the union thanks those who participated in the strikes.

The accepted offer will all local government staff to be paid a minimum of £15 per hour by 2026 and the full deal will be backdated to April 2023.

It was voted by a margin of 69.6% to 30.4%.

Unison Scotland’s head of local government, Johanna Baxter said: “This deal is long overdue and was hard fought for by UNISON members.  Cosla urgently need to review the bargaining process to ensure that future pay negotiations progress quickly and with as little disruption as possible.   

“The improvements secured by Unison in these negotiations help address low pay and support those in the squeezed middle. 

“Delivering a minimum rate of pay of £15 per hour for all local government workers by April 2026 will go a long way to tackling low pay and will make a real different to people’s lives. 

“Backdating the full offer to 1st April 2023 means those on very modest incomes are protected during the cost of living crisis too.

“It was Unison members who stood on picket lines to fight for this improved deal.  It was Unison negotiators who brokered it.  And it will be UNISON that fights to ensure that all of the commitments it contains are delivered in full.

“And government at local and national level should be aware that we aren’t going to be bullied into believing its council staff expecting fair pay that threatens services and jobs by a government proposing a financially feckless council tax freeze ”

Councillor Katie Hagmann welcomed the response from UNISON members who have now joined GMB and UNITE colleagues in voting to accept the strong pay offer, totalling half a billion pounds, which COSLA Leaders made to the Local Government workforce.

They said: “It is great to finally get this deal over the line, I am pleased with today’s news that Unison members have joined their GMB and Unite colleagues in voting to accept the strong offer from Cosla.

“Throughout this challenging process, we have listened carefully to our Trade Unions, met all their asks, and worked with Scottish Government to put an incredibly strong half a billion pound pay package forward. 

“For the sake of everyone in our Local Government workforce, who are delivering essential front-line services, I am pleased that the pay offer has now been accepted by all of our Trade Union colleagues.”





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