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Scotland in UNISON
December 2008 No 76

Review set up as council staff accept pay award

by Kate Ramsden

The local government pay dispute finally reached an end in November as UNISON members in Scotland’s councils voted by a narrow majority to accept a two year pay deal worth 3% for 2008 and 2.5% for 2009.

Members of the other two unions, GMB and Unite, rejected the offer, however, many councils have moved to pay out the rise in December pay packets.

“The strike action taken on 20 August and 24 September was successful in improving the offer, thanks to the strong support from our members and the tremendous work done locally by branches. Our thanks go to all those who supported this campaign,” said Stephanie Herd, Chair of the Scottish Local Government Committee.

“However, the closeness of the result is a clear message that our members remain unhappy with the pay offer achieved, and we need to look at what we can learn from the whole process.”

December’s Scottish Local Government Conference has set up a working group to conduct a full review of the pay campaign and strategy and to identify any lessons to be learned.

The working group will include four members of the Local Government Committee and three branch delegates who were not directly involved in the negotiations.

The group will make an interim report in February and will present their findings to the April 2009 Conference. The review will look at all aspects of the pay strategy including the pay claim itself, the joint union campaign and an analysis of communication and leadership issues.

It will also look at the implications for collective bargaining of the “imposition” of the pay rise by many councils.

Branches have already been invited to contribute their own experiences of the pay campaign to the review.

“The wide consultation and the range of participants on the review group will ensure the fullest possible consideration of what worked well and what we need to improve on and will help us determine how best to take forward the 2010 pay campaign,” said Marion Stewart, Vice-Chair.

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