Council chiefs agree fresh pay offer as hopes grow of end to strike action

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Council chiefs have made a revised pay offer to staff in a bid to avert strikes that are set to close schoolsUmbrella group COSLA backed a plan by 24 votes to 8 which would give £2000 to the low paid and cap the cash given to more affluent staff.The offer, which will now be considered by the trade unions, comes after a prolonged dispute with COSLA over pay during the cost of living crisis.

Failure to agree a deal resulted in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon chairing a summit yesterday in an attempt to hammer out a compromise.

The meeting lasted until ten minutes to midnight.Under the proposal that came from the talks, those earning up to £20,000 would receive £2,000, staff on between £20,00 and £39,000 would get £1,900, and those earning between £39,000 and £60,000 would be given 5%.However, anyone earning over £60,000 would have their pay rise capped at £3,000 - a proposal that came out of the Sturgeon talks.

It is now expected that three trade unions - GMB, Unite and Unison - will discuss the offer before consulting their members.Council and Government sources are hoping the bin and school staff strikes scheduled for next week will be suspended. To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here. Nicola Sturgeon accused of 'staggering' decision to push for independence referendum during energy bills crisis Liz Truss set to ramp up North Sea drilling as plan slammed by opponents Labour's 'not a penny more' energy plan could save Scots £2.6 billion in heating bills