Unite members vote to accept latest council pay offer

The unions had warned there would be a repeat of scenes from the summer of 2022, when rubbish piled up on the streets in cities like Edinburgh

A second major council union has accepted the pay offer made to try to avoid bin strikes.

Almost three quarters of Unite members voted in favour of the offer for council staff, which would see them get a rise of almost £1,300 or 3.6% - whichever is the greater.

The pay offer covers virtually all council workers apart from teachers, including waste and recycling workers.

GMB also voted to accept the offer last week but the biggest council union, Unison, rejected the offer and could still hold strikes.

The finance secretary welcomed the news.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: members have "overwhelmingly" voted to accept the offer which will provide a "welcome boost" to frontline local services.

She said: “Make no mistake that it was down to our members’ guts and determination that an improved pay offer was finally put on the table which will now help to deliver better jobs, pay and conditions for workers across all Scottish councils.”

Unite’s members returned a 71% vote in favour.

The union's lead negotiator for local government, Graham McNab, added: “Time and again we end up in a summer farce over council pay.

"Unite wants to be perfectly clear that we want council pay resolved at a far earlier stage in the process. It should not take until the cusp of strike action for COSLA and the Scottish government to come up with a fair pay offer".

Unite’s ballot results came almost a week after the GMB announced its members had also overwhelming voted to accept the offer.

Keir Greenaway, the union’s senior organiser in public service, said the pay rise must now reach members without further delay.

He said: “It may have taken the threat of industrial action to secure this offer but it is above inflation and weighted to benefit frontline workers most.

“That is what all the unions had asked for and it is what our members voted for. Councils must now act with urgency to ensure it is delivered as quickly as possible.

“Our members have already been forced to wait five months during needlessly delayed negotiations. They should not be asked to wait a minute longer.”

Finance Secretary Shona Robison said:

“I am delighted that Unite members have voted to accept this pay offer. They join members of GMB in recognising the clear benefit of this above-inflation offer for all workers, especially the lowest paid.

“While this government fully respects the decision by Unison members to reject the offer, I would urge members to reconsider.

“The Scottish government will continue to work constructively with COSLA as efforts continue to secure a deal and avert industrial action, which is in no one’s interests.”

Unison hold out

The biggest council union - Unison - has turned the down.

Unison argues more needs to be done to address what it sees as the long-term decline in the value of council pay over the past 14 years.

A significant proportion of Unison members are in better-paid roles so would be covered by the rise worth 3.6%. The £1,300 offer is worth more in percentage terms to lower-paid workers.

The union also notes that some other public sector workers are being offered more than the better-paid council staff - all NHS staff are being offered 5.5% and teachers 4.2%.

Unison has mandates for strike action by waste and recycling workers at 13 councils, and for education and early years staff at five councils.

The union is expected to discuss its next steps on Friday.

Council body Cosla and the Scottish government both insist the offer on the table is at the limits of affordability. They argue more for pay would mean more cuts somewhere else.

Councils will also need to decide whether to implement the pay offer - despite Unison's rejection.