School support staff and refuse workers to be balloted for strike action

Almost 10,000 school support staff and refuse workers across Scotland are to be balloted for strike action.

It comes after GMB Scotland members rejected COSLA’s (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) latest pay offer.

A majority (95%) of GMB members who participated in the union’s consultative ballot voted to reject an £850 increase for local government staff earning up to £25,000 a year.

The union has said it will now move to a full industrial action ballot of nearly 10,000 members employed in schools and local refuse and cleansing services across Scotland, increasing the possibility of autumn strikes.

NEW: GMB to ballot almost 10,000 schools and cleansing workers across Scotland for industrial action, following a 95% rejection of the @COSLA pay offer. https://t.co/7ftDjX7iJE
— GMB Scotland (@GMBScotOrg) September 3, 2021

GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services Drew Duffy accused COSLA of “dither and delay”.

“COSLA bosses have failed to table to a pay offer that reflects decent value for many workers who have been part of the frontline response to Covid-19,” he said.

“The prospect of an increase that would amount to little more than £15 a week extra in the pockets of workers like school cleaners and refuse collectors has been rightly and resoundingly rejected.

“COSLA’s dither and delay means local government staff across Scotland are still mired on pre-pandemic pay rates – there has been no “thank you” for these workers.

“It means the threat of strikes this autumn, disrupting schools and community services like waste collection and street cleansing, is now a step closer.”