Scottish council workers are fighting back

Text of a Socialist Party Scotland leaflet

• 7,000 Glasgow Cordia and education workers in Unison and the GMB are balloting for strike action over the SNP council’s delays and backsliding over the equal pay settlement.
• Unison and the GMB unions have rejected the latest pay offer for Scottish council staff.
• GMB and Unite members in East Dunbartonshire have forced a Lib Dem/ Tory council back on major attacks on terms and conditions through coordinated strikes.
• Scottish teachers are demanding a 10% pay rise after years of falling salaries

Strike for fair pay

Last week local government Unison delegates from the 32 branches in Scotland agreed to recommend rejection of a 3% pay offer from CoSLA, the Scottish council employers.

In reality the “new offer” means no change for the vast majority of members who earn under £36,500. There is nothing to redress our lost pay over the past 10 years and the fact that the RPI inflation rate is now 3.5% means this is still a real terms pay cut!

All Scottish Unison members working in local government will now be consulted via a digital ballot. Get your vote in!

Socialist Party Scotland members play a key role in Unison and give full support to these workers in their disputes.

Strike for equal pay

Unison Glasgow City Branch is currently balloting 4,700 of its members for strike action after losing all confidence in Glasgow Council to settle equal pay claims across the city. In January of this year, the SNP administration made a commitment to settle years of pay inequality in the city by negotiating an agreeable settlement with the claimant’s side. Thousands of low paid women have been robbed of their hard earned wages for years and are due significant cash settlements.

Whilst the commitment was made to address the issue in January 2018, the council did not appear to see this as an urgent issue nor was there any sort of timetable for settlement.They agreed to meet fortnightly with the claimant’s side, but with no genuine attempt at negotiation the trade unions decided to consider an industrial strategy to move proceedings forward.

A consultative ballot for strike action confirmed that workers were tired of waiting and were prepared to take to the streets to force the council into action. The council agreed to key trade union demands in order to halt industrial action.

Firstly, a time frame for individual claimants receiving compensatory payments. Secondly, conceding that the current job evaluation scheme is dead and a new equality proofed scheme are imple mented in its place.

Finally, that appropriate funding is put in place for this new pay and grading system.

It was hoped that this would lead to significant progress and an agreeable resolution However, this quickly changed and by July the council had reneged on the promises made earlier in the year.

They are no longer willing to work with the claimant’s side and are pursuing a route that does not involve negotiated settlement. Now the SNP council will rightly face the industrial power and anger of Glasgow council workers. All out to win the ballot for strike action!

Build coordinated action

At a time of unrelenting austerity the anger of public sector workers is palpable. The EIS teachers’ union is campaigning for a 10% pay rise with a mass demo in Glasgow planned on October 27th.

PCS civil servants voted to take action over pay but were prevented by the ballot thresholds of the Tory anti union legislation.

Councils across Scotland, whether SNP or Labour, are passing on Tory cuts and attacking workforces. Socialist Party Scotland calls for the setting of no cuts budgets and for councils to demand and fight for the funding they need from Holyrood and Westminster.

The TUC and STUC must also co-ordinate trade union strike action nationally to fight for workers, like the example of East Dunbartonshire. Workers also need a fighting political alternative. It’s time for Corbyn’s Labour to drive out the Blairites and aid the process of building a mass working class party that fights on socialist policies.