August 12th update: Following the renewed offer from CoSLA on Friday of last week the planned bin strike will not go ahead. Action will be suspended to allow council trade union members to vote on the offer. The revised deal will see all non-teaching staff receive a minimum of 3.6%, with the lowest paid getting an increase of £1,292 (5.63%).
Unite appears the clearest in accepting the offer with Graham McNab stating it is a credible offer. The Unite local government industrial committee have suspended action and purpose that members accept the offer. Unite's ballot will open on the 15th of August and close on the 5th of September.
GMB have similarly talked about this being an improved offer and in 'an act of goodwill' will put it back to members but without recommendation.
Unison have joined in, suspending their strike but are recommending to their waste and recycling members that they reject the offer. In addition Unison await the outcome of their ongoing ballot of schools, early years and family centre staff.
We now wait to next until month to see how the members of each union respond. Again there appears to be no likely early settlement to this pay dispute and no contributing stability to the sustainability of local government. The degree to which this impacts the thinking of those with a vote remains to be seen.
On 10 August, we had reported the situation as follows:
Local government workers have again had to wait until the last minute to see how CoSLA responds to their annual pay claim. Recent headlines pointed to the likelihood of a strike. However the Scottish government finance minister, Shona Robison, appears to have found more money by making ‘difficult decisions'. A position echoed by Councillor Katie Hagmann of CoSLA.
Unite, GMB and Unison waste and recycling members are set to strike from Wednesday 14th for nine days. Business leaders and others have voiced concerns about the impact on the Edinburgh Fringe and other events. However the timing of the potential action is the product of the employer's failure to respond quickly enough with a serious offer. An offer reflective of the 5% (for the lowest grades) accepted elsewhere in the UK being strongly trailed as a starting point.
Friday 9th August saw the unions and CoSLA meet in an attempt to avoid the mobilisation of picket lines. An offering approximating that offered to those in England and Northern Ireland was put forward.
It will now be up to the decision making mechanisms of each of the three unions to determine if there is enough within the detail of the offer to take it back to their membership.
Deeper questions about the value that is placed on council workers, why waste is such an effective battleground, and how the devolved Scottish government can reach a more sustainable financial settlement with our 32 local authorities are likely to remain unanswered.