SJC PAY 2022 – LETTER TO COSLA

To: Simon Cameron, COSLA SJC Joint Secretary

c.c: Cllr Katy Hagmann, COSLA Resources Spokesperson
All Scottish Council Leaders

Date: 27th July 2022

Dear Simon,

SJC Pay 2022

We write further to our recent correspondence informing you that you had left us with no option but to proceed with conducting formal statutory industrial action ballots on the issue of your proposed 2022 pay offer for the SJC workforce.

All three trade unions conducted these statutory industrial action ballots – on a disaggregated basis and targeted at members employed in schools, early years, waste and recycling – and all concluded yesterday 26th July 2022.

All local authorities were sent their individual notice of intention to ballot by each trade union prior to ballots opening and their individual authority’s results from each trade union once the results were declared.

However the summary position is that between the three trade unions we have legal mandates to disrupt the operation of over 1,200 schools across 16 local authorities in Scotland and the waste/recycling services across 25 local authorities in Scotland. Viewed across all occupational groups and trade unions there would be few if any councils that would avoid some level of disruption.

The only way to avoid this now is for council leaders, at their meeting on Friday 29th July 2022, to put forward a substantially improved pay offer.

You will wish to note that council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have just received an offer of a £1925 flat rate uplift, which equates to a 10.5% increase for those on the lowest wages.

We note that you have not convened a meeting of the negotiating committee since 4th March 2022 and that the newly elected COSLA Resources Spokesperson has made no effort to engage the trade unions on this pressing matter, or any other, since taking up post.

Our negotiators remain willing to make themselves available at any time to help facilitate a speedy resolution to this matter.

Regards,

Johanna Baxter                  Wendy Dunsmore                       Keir Greenaway
SJC Joint Secretary           SJC Joint Secretary                     SJC Joint Secretary
UNISON                              UNITE                                            GMB