A UNION has warned that the Cycling World Championships in Glasgow this August could be under threat as talks with councils leaders have broken down.
The 5% pay offer which has been rejected Unite members, needs to be considerably improved with Cosla now "in danger of repeating exactly the same mistakes of last summer," according to the union leaders.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said: "The Scottish government needs to intervene because Cosla for a second year in a row seems utterly incapable of sorting out a fair pay offer.
"The reality is that the current 5% offer needs to be significantly improved upon or we will have no choice but to ballot our members on strike action.
"Unite will always stand up for better jobs, pay and conditions in local government, and, just like last year, in the end we will win for our members."
Keir Greenaway, the union's senior organiser for public services, said: "Given Cosla is unwilling or unable to offer a fair pay rise or ask ministers to intervene, we have been left with no choice but to ask our members if they are willing to take industrial action in support of our claim.
"They are suffering through an unprecedented cost of living crisis but have been offered a rise that is less than last year, despite the cost of living being even higher, and less than is being offered to council workers in England and Wales."
A Cosla spokesperson said the 5% offer to council workers "recognises the cost-of-living pressures on our workforce and, critically, it seeks to protect jobs and services".
The spokesperson added: "While the offer value in year is 5.5%, the average uplift on salaries going into the next financial year is 7%. Those on the Scottish local government living wage would get 9.12% and those at higher grades, where councils are experiencing severe recruitment challenges, would see 6.05%.
"It is an offer which recognises both the vital role of the people who deliver our essential services across councils every day and the value that we, as employers, place on them.
"Crucially, it also raises the Scottish local government living wage by 99p to £11.84 per hour and sets out a commitment to work with our trade unions to develop a road map to £15 per hour in a way that protects our workforce and services we deliver."
The signficance of hosting these events "cannot be underestimated," according to Marc Crothall, chief executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance.
"The UCI cycling championships means there is a good spread of events taking place across the regions of Scotland," he said. "It also provides a media platform to showcase the many fantastic attributes that Scotland has to a global audience, which hopefully will tempt many to visit for a holiday or host their event here too."
With Stuart McCallum, writing for The Herald, the article reads: "Hosting UCI is a privilege. It’s bigger than the Commonwealth games, being closer to the scale of the World Cup or the Olympics."
