School strikes in Scotland to go ahead next week despite improved pay offer to staff

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Classrooms across Scotland will be closed by strikes next week as school support staff prepare to walk out in a row over pay.Cosla, which represents councils, said today it had tabled a "significantly improved in-year offer" to three trade unions involved in the dispute.It would mean workers on the Scottish local government living wage receive an uplift of around £2,000, or almost 10 per cent.But Unison said three days of strikes will go ahead next week as its officials had rejected the offer out of hand.Staff including cleaners and janitors will now walk out from Tuesday.Three out of four schools - across 26 of 32 local authority areas - will now be shut on September 26, 27 and 28 as a result.An extra £90 million was found for the latest offer, including the £10 million previously allocated by council leaders in the previous deal offered to unions on September 13.Cosla said the new offer was made on condition that the unions take it to their members for full consideration and that strikes are suspended with immediate effect whilst they do so.Katie Hagmann of Cosla said: “This really is our best and final offer, we have nowhere to go after this.“We have gone beyond our limits in a bid to satisfy our workforce and avert next week’s strikes.”Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser, said on the new offer: “Our members have absolutely no interest in last-minute deadline dramas.

All they want is a fair pay offer.“Cosla could have made such an offer months ago but instead, despite our best efforts, chose to drag the process out for no good reason.“We will now look at the detail of this latest offer.