UNISON, the largest union in local government, has today (Tuesday) launched an industrial action ballot of 30,000 school staff in every local authority in Scotland.
The ballot is over a pay dispute for all council workers. The vote will close on Friday 25 August and if staff vote to strike there could be mass school closures across Scotland in September.
Earlier this year, UNISON consulted its entire local government membership (84,000) on COSLA’s pay offer. This was a 5% increase from April 2023, plus an additional increase that varied depending on an individual’s salary payable from January 2024. The union’s members voted overwhelmingly to reject (87%) this.
Nine in ten (90%) of those who rejected the offer also voted in favour of taking some form of strike action to try to secure an improved wage increase.
Full details can be found on the UNISON Scotland website: UNISON launch strike ballot of school staff in Scotland – UNISON Scotland (unison-scotland.org)