Strike action at Fife schools lifted after new pay offer is tabled

Wednesday’s industrial action by members of UNISON has been suspended School strikes, which were planned for Wednesday, November 8, have been suspended after talks with local government organisation, Cosla.

The union said it had negotiated a “ground-breaking commitment” to tackle low pay across local government which should deliver above inflation increases for the lowest paid workers for at least the next three years.

UNISON,the only union to take strike action in this dispute, will put this new pay offer to their members with the recommendation that they vote to accept it. The ballot will run over the next few weeks.

Johanna Baxter, UNISON Scotland’s head of local government, said: “Over the past few months, from the employers original offer to today, the action of UNISON members has secured more than an additional £100m into the pockets of local government workers. This includes an additional £17.2m secured in the last couple of weeks.

The improvements put forward today help address low pay and support those in the squeezed middle. The commitment to delivering a minimum rate of pay of £15 per hour for all local government workers by April 2026 will go a long way to tackling low pay across the sector.

Backdating the full offer to April this year will see an improvement for four in ten local government workers.