Council staff are to be balloted after unions received a two-year pay offer from local government employers Cosla, says UNISON today (Friday).
The new offer is for 4% this year and 3.5% for next (2026/27). UNISON’s local government committee has met to discuss the offer and has decided to recommend to members that they vote to accept.
UNISON Scotland head of local government, David O’Connor said: “The threat of possible strikes by council employees has forced Cosla back to the table.
“But it should not have taken the possibility of staff walkouts closing services to get Cosla and the Scottish government to listen to the workforce.
“Local authority workers were due a pay rise in April. Despite the delay, this is a sensible offer. The union will be putting the new amount to council staff over next few weeks, recommending that they accept.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the largest union in local government representing over 80,000 workers across all 32 councils.
– UNISON represents council staff across all pay grades who provide a range of services including: education, social care, transport, environmental health, housing, planning, economic development and leisure services.