School strikes called off ahead of new pay offer

Pupil support staff are among those who have voted for industrial action

Strikes that could have caused school closures across much of Scotland have been called off.

GMB members including janitors and cleaners at 10 councils were scheduled to take industrial action next Wednesday and Thursday.

However, the union said it is considering joint strikes with other trade union members later this month.

Council body Cosla told BBC Scotland that it had taken part in "constructive" talks.

• School staff to strike in 24 Scottish council areas

BBC Scotland News understands council leaders have agreed to make an extra £10m available to fund an improved pay offer in a bid to avert strikes by GMB, Unison and Unite within weeks.

However, any improved pay offer, which must be agreed by all 32 councils, is likely to be well short of what the unions would ideally want.

The Scottish government has told Cosla it will not provide any more money to fund a pay deal.

The industrial dispute involves non-teaching staff including catering, cleaning, pupil support, administration and janitorial workers in schools and early years centres.

'Fair pay rise'

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland's senior organiser in public services, said: "We wanted to give parents, children and local authorities as much clarity around our plans as possible.

"We had served notice for two days of strike action this month but as our sister unions cannot join us on these dates these have been withdrawn and we are actively discussing joint action later in the month.

"Cosla has an opportunity to avert that action if they can offer our members a fair pay rise and we can only urge them to take that opportunity."

A Cosla spokesperson said the body hoped to meet trade union leaders " as soon as possible to discuss next steps".

Unions have rejected an average pay increase of 5.5% - with a 99p an hour rise in the living wage for the lowest paid.

Cosla previously said the "strong offer" raised the local government living wage by 99p to £11.84 per hour.

GMB Scotland had a mandate for strikes in Aberdeen, Clackmannanshire, Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar, Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Orkney, Renfrewshire and South Ayrshire.

Unison members in 24 of the 32 council areas voted to strike, as did Unite members in 10 areas, though neither union had confirmed dates for the industrial action.

News the threat of school closures next week has been lifted will come as a relief to many parents and students.

But the risk of disruption to schools within weeks is still real.

The dispute is over the pay offer for the vast majority of council workers but the three big unions have mandates for strike action among non-teaching staff in schools.

They would, in effect, be striking for themselves and many of their colleagues in other roles.

The unions have not set a headline pay demand as such. But they note the headline 5.5% rise is still substantially below inflation.

If the new pay offer - expected next week - is not good enough for the unions, action is still likely within weeks. It is possible dates may be announced soon to add to the pressure on councils.

The big question is just what sort of improved pay offer councils will be able to afford. Any offer has to be affordable to all 32 of them.