Some West Lothian Council may very well be set to strike in a row over wages.
The GMB union mentioned a two per cent supply will “flip disaster into disaster” for lowest paid staff, which embrace West Lothian catering workers, bin males and cleaners.
GMB despatched statutory discover to COSLA chiefs at the moment that an industrial motion poll of all members in faculties and early years and waste and cleaning companies throughout native authorities will run from Monday 6 June till Tuesday 26 July.
The poll is in response to COSLA’s two per cent pay supply towards all native authorities pay grades for 2022/23, which might equate to large actual phrases pay cuts for frontline staff and disproportionately award the most important will increase to the best earners in councils.
GMB Scotland Senior Organiser Keir Greenaway warned: “Tens of 1000's of the bottom paid workers in native authorities will go from the frontline of public service supply to beneath the breadline until their pay confronts hovering inflation and eye-watering power payments.
“However as an alternative of recognising the size of the problem and rising to satisfy it, political leaders are sleeping on the wheel and blaming one another for his or her lack of ability to handle it – it’s a far cry from their doorstep applause each Thursday evening solely two years in the past.
“Let’s be clear. A pay rise of simply 2 per cent for the employees incomes beneath £25,000 a 12 months is value not more than a tenner per week. It is going to flip a disaster right into a disaster for a lot of working households and there's no commerce union value its salt that would depart that unchallenged.
“Until COSLA comes again to the negotiating desk with a vastly improved supply that displays the actual fact our members are working within the largest of cost-of-living disaster in forty years then industrial motion seems to be inevitable.”
A WLC spokesperson mentioned the native authority is ready on the result of the poll earlier than taking any steps.
He continued: “We conscious that a poll of GMB members in native authorities might affect on council companies, significantly in faculties, early years, waste and cleaning companies.
“We are going to await the result of the poll.”
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