Trade unions have reissued calls for strikes that previously threatened to close schools in Orkney and Aberdeenshire.
There was a near-miss in early September when unions received a new pay offer from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), which represents employers.
The planned strike action that would have closed more than 100 schools and nurseries across Orkney and Aberdeenshire was put on hold.
But on Thursday, UNISON – along with its sister trade unions Unite and GMB – renewed their threats to pull local government staff out of schools.
They cited a disagreement over a part of the proposed deal. In addition to a pay raise for employees, the deal included an extra day of leave and cuts to some social security fees.
UNISON understood these benefits would be ongoing, but COSLA claims they were only for one year.
A COSLA spokesperson said that they are willing to offer the pay raise separately, while the other disputed details are clarified.
What’s the background?
Although the unions voted to suspend the strikes after receiving a new pay offer on September 2, the strike mandate remained in place. According to UNISON, this means that the unions can legally call workers back out on strike within a matter of weeks.
When the strikes were first announced, they caused confusion among parents and school officials and promised significant learning disruptions.
Orkney Islands Council and Aberdeenshire Council were among the nine local authorities bracing for school staff to strike for three days.
In Orkney, education officials gathered to discuss how the strikes could impact each school. The resulting plan told parents to expect more than 20 schools and nurseries to close during the strike days of September 6-8.
Many other schools were going to operate on modified schedules during those days.
In Aberdeenshire, officials decided to close all council-run nurseries and assessed each school individually. But just hours after the Aberdeenshire Council released the list of 41 schools that would have to close, UNISON announced that they were putting the strikes on hold.
It is still unclear whether these same schools will close if unions reinstate the strikes.
What next?
Either way, Thursday’s announcement from UNISON means that strike actions and school closures are back on the table.
According to the details of the revised pay offer that the unions received in September, employees were to receive an extra day of leave and those working in social work, social care and early years would have their Scottish Social Services Council fees waived.
UNISON claimed that the deal originally offered these benefits as permanent for the duration of the deal. But UNISON understands that those benefits are now only on offer for one year.
Other aspects of the offered pay deal include pay increases based on salary level which, in most cases, would amount to a 7.5% pay raise for employees.
A spokesperson for COSLA said that they are offering to separate the disputed points from the rest of the offer, allowing the pay raise to take effect while the other details are clarified.
“We value our Local Government workforce highly. That is why, in an attempt to get the money to the Local Government Workforce as soon as possible we have offered to separate the pay element of the agreement from the parts that require clarification.”
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