Unison says no more school strikes planned

Unison members recently staged a two-week strike in Perth and Kinross

Council union Unison said there will be no more strikes over pay for the moment following the recent two weeks of industrial action at schools in Perth and Kinross.

The union said it has secured commitments from the Scottish government and council body Cosla to discuss pay, reduced working hours and local government finance.

The union has also suspended plans for a ballot of council workers across Scotland on striking.

GMB and Unite previously accepted an offer which will see staff pay rise by 67p per hour, or 3.6% - whichever was higher.

Unison said talks following the strike had resulted in the government and local government body Cosla agreeing to talks about a minimum hourly rate of £15 and reducing the working week.

Unison will consult its members, recommending they conclude this year's negotiations and move to substantial talks for 2025-26.

Finance and Local Government Secretary Shona Robison said she was "pleased" that Unison was recommending their members agree to end this year’s pay negotiations and welcomed "their willingness to engage and reach agreement on this issue."

Collette Hunter, Unison's local government chairwoman for Scotland, said: "Perth and Kinross members working in education establishments and all our members who rejected the earlier offer have secured these fresh commitments from the Scottish government and councils.

"Our members' resolve and action has secured a route to a credible offer on pay before April 2025.

"We have also got the Scottish government to come in the room with us and Cosla to seriously discuss £15 per hour, a reduction in the working week and the whole situation with council finances."

Katie Hagmann, resources spokeswoman for Cosla, said it had been a priority to "work hard with trade union partners to find a solution" to the dispute.

She said: "We have listened to Unison's asks in relation to non-pay elements and I am pleased that today we are able to formally respond to a number of their proposals.

"We have written to all three trade unions, supplementing and enhancing the already strong pay offer on the table, which has been accepted by GMB and Unite.

"The letter sets out Cosla's and the Scottish government's shared commitment to make meaningful progress in key areas of interest to Unison."

While she stressed the pay rise "remains at the absolute limit of affordability" for councils "with no scope to increase its value", Ms Hagman added the additional elements "meaningfully enhance and strengthen the package on offer".

She said: "We are hopeful that this will enable an agreement to be reached with trade unions partners and our pay negotiations to conclude.

"We have respectfully asked that Unison consider the strengthened offer and suspend any plans for future industrial action."

Ms Robison said: "I hope that commitments from Cosla to deliver non-pay elements will encourage all three unions to reach a collective agreement and avoid further industrial action.

“We are fully supportive of the approach set out by Cosla, which enhances the offer already accepted by Unite and GMB.

“The Scottish government provided £77.5 million to support the pay offer, which represents the absolute limit of affordability."

John Swinney tends to keep his cool, but these strikes targeting his constituency were an obvious source of frustration for him.

He was particularly unhappy that his role as first minister led to the Perthshire community he represented facing the disruption that came with industrial action.

It now looks like this dispute has reached its conclusion. He'll be relieved about that.

The striking workers may be less happy - they aren't getting the improved pay offer they initially sought.

They've secured future talks on pay, working conditions and council finances. This allows them to walk away with something.

And perhaps their willingness to take industrial action will provide them with some more leverage when future deals are being put on the table.