Stirling street cleaners and waste workers balloted over strike in ongoing pay battle
dailyrecord.co.ukCleaning and waste workers in Stirling could be set to walk out later this summer after being balloted in a pay dispute.Members of the Unite union across 29 Scottish council areas will be balloted from June 5 to July 1, with action potentially set for later in July – in the middle of the busy tourist season.The move follows the rejection by Unite’s membership of a formal pay offer from COSLA, which represents Scotland’s local authorities, which would have seen staff receive a 2.2 per cent pay increase effective from April 1 to September 30.That would be followed by a two per cent increase for a year-long period running from the start of October 2024.The offer was thrown out by the union, which accused COSLA of trying to “kick the can down the road” by changing the pay anniversary date from April to October.Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members undertake vital frontline jobs.
Despite the essential work they do, they have seen their pay eroded for years, they are simply no longer prepared to tolerate this situation.“COSLA and the Scottish Government have been warned that they must do far more to meet the pay aspirations of our members.
The blame for any strike action taking place will lie at their doors.”“We will back our members all the way in the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions in local government.”The only council areas not affected by the poll are neighbouring Clackmannanshire, along with East Lothian, and the Orkney Islands.Graham McNab, Unite industrial officer, added: “Unite has now served industrial action notices to nearly every council in Scotland.“If the ballots are successful, then our members in cleansing and waste services could begin strike action from July.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk
