Councils across Scotland could be hit by strikes if an imminent pay offer is deemed too low.
GMB Scotland balloted members across all local authorities to ask whether a formal vote on walkouts should be taken if the forthcoming offer from council leaders is deemed too low.
Following the two-week consultation 97% of voting members want a formal vote on strike action if any offer is not “credible”. It's speculated the offer from local authorities will be less than 3%.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland’s senior organiser in public services, said the pay offer is already too late and seems certain to be too low when councillors and MSPs are receiving a pay rise of more than 6%.
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He called for urgent discussion between councils, unions and government ministers on how a fair pay offer can be funded.
Greenaway said: “Our members will rightly be asking why our politicians believe they deserve a rise of more than 6% while council workers delivering vital frontline services do not.
“The hypocrisy would be staggering if it was not so entirely predictable.
“We hoped council leaders might have learned lessons from last year and act with greater urgency.
“That has not happened and the same mistakes are being made, with the same lack of action leading to the same rising support for industrial action.
“Our members have now made clear these unnecessary delays will no longer be tolerated.
“We have no time to waste and if the offer, whenever it comes, is not credible, we will move swiftly to a formal ballot on industrial action.
“Councillors and ministers cannot say they have not been warned.
"Our members no longer have the patience to listen to council leaders pleading poverty while refusing to ask ministers for the money needed to pay staff fairly.
“They also have no time to listen to Scottish Government ministers claiming it is nothing to do with them after they announced a council tax freeze without warning or consultation.
“This has become an annual pantomime of buck passing and blame shifting between the councils and the government and our members have seen it too many times before.”
“Without joint talks right now, without funding for a fair, negotiated pay award, industrial action in our local authorities will be inevitable.”
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