'Strikes will put parents in a desperate position'

Iain Dick, a father of three, thinks the strikes are putting some parents in a "desperate position "

Parents across much of Scotland are facing a scramble to organise childcare ahead of strikes that will close schools on three days next week.

The dispute is over a pay offer for non-teaching school staff.

A fresh offer has been rejected by Unison, whose members will walk out in 24 council areas on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week.

But Unite and the GMB called off their planned action while members are consulted on the offer.

Schools also saw widespread disruption earlier in the year when teachers staged a programme of rolling strike action in a separate pay dispute.

Iain Dick, a father of three from Glasgow, said that levels of sympathy for the latest strikes from parents "remains to be seen".

"There's going to be countless parents across the whole country who are trying to either take unpaid or take up some of their annual leave," he said.

"I think we're putting parents into a desperate position which is not going to help us to want to support the cause."

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The Glasgow City Parents Group said on social media that: "Regardless whether you support or don't support the industrial action next week in Scottish schools, it doesn't lessen the disruption it causes families."

The chairperson for the group, Leanne McGuire, told BBC Scotland's The Nine programme that parents will be feeling "déjà vu".

"We've lived through this earlier in the year with another set of workers and they [parents] will certainly be feeling quite deflated," she said.

"If people have not already put plans in place there will probably be a scramble now over the weekend to try and source additional childcare or see if you can work from home or change your days off."

Robert Woolley, secretary of the Highland Parent Council Partnership, said that the issue should have been sorted out weeks ago.

"I just feel it was left very very late in the day from both the local government and unions. It has probably left a lot of parents frustrated," he said.

Planned strike action affects school catering, cleaning, janitorial, admin and classroom assistance staff

Where are strikes being held?

Unison has rejected the new pay offer and will strike in schools in these 24 areas on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week:

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh City, Fife, Glasgow City, Highland, Inverclyde, Moray, North Ayrshire, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Shetland, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire,

The GMB has called off strikes in these 10 areas:

Aberdeen City, Clackmannanshire, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Glasgow City, Orkney, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire,

Unite has called off strikes in these 11 areas:

Clackmannanshire, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Fife, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, South Lanarkshire.

Further details of school closures are available on council websites.

Unison Scotland's head of local government, Johanna Baxter, told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland Programme that the union had "every sympathy with parents" over the "uncertainty that has been caused for them by the Scottish government and Cosla".

She added: "Many of our members are parents themselves. The last thing they want to be doing is striking.

"We have been having these discussions with Cosla for months now. They have had months to come up with a decent pay offer that rewards workers and protects jobs, but they haven't done it."

The offer rejected by Unison included a rise of about £2,000 a year for the lowest paid workers.

Cosla said the rejection of its "best and final' offer was "totally unacceptable" and that the offer compares well to other sectors as well as recognising the cost-of-living pressures on the workforce.

The Scottish Government said it will continue working with Cosla to minimise disruption caused by the strikes.