School and nursery staff are set to walk out in nine local authorities next month as unions have rejected a five percent pay offer.
Ongoing talks with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities have seen a lack of progress which has led unions to go ahead with three days of strike action. It comes as waste and recycling workers have already begun their strike action, leaving Edinburgh littered with rubbish.
Cleaning, janitorial, catering and pupil support services are all set to be involved in the upcoming action, which could see schools disrupted or even closed.
Johanna Baxter, Unison Scotland head of local government, said: "We are in urgent negotiations with the employer to try and find a solution, but so far we have only had an offer of talks – we have not had a pay offer. Until we can explain to UNISON members how a pay offer might impact on them, council workers have been left with no choice but to strike.
"UNISON has been demanding pay talks for months and COSLA and the Scottish Government are still dragging their heels. Inflation is predicted to rise to more than 13%, and our members are struggling as fuel, food and household bills go through the roof.
"Until we have a decent pay offer that we can put to UNISON members our strike action will continue and thousands of school and early years workers will be taking action across nine councils in Scotland."
For those who are wondering about when and where the strikes take place, here is all of the key information that we have so far.
When will the strikes take place?
The dates for the planned industrial action are as follows:
- 6th September
- 7th September
- 8th September
Two of the strike days (7 & 8 September) will take place alongside the already planned waste and recycling staff strikes. Unison says that strikes are set to be the largest strike among council workers since the Trade Union Act was introduced in 2016, with as many as 13,000 workers on strike.
GMB Scotland has also confirmed strike action for schools and early years services staff in Glasgow City Council and East Renfrewshire Council on September 6th and 8th.
Where will strikes take place?
The following councils have been notified about strike action:
- Aberdeenshire
- Clackmannanshire
- East Renfrewshire
- Glasgow City
- Inverclyde
- Orkney
- North Lanarkshire
- Stirling
- South Lanarkshire
What will happen on strike days?
It is possible that some lessons could be cancelled in the council areas that are included in the industrial action, and in some cases schools may be closed altogether.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council told the Scotsman : "We will let families know as soon as possible if the decision is to close the schools so that they are able to make alternative arrangements."
Each council will have to assess their own situation and will likely release guidance in the coming weeks.
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