No more money available for local government pay, says Shona Robison
dailyrecord.co.ukScotland’s Finance Secretary has said there “simply is no more money” to fund pay deals for local government workers amid strikes which have closed schools in John Swinney’s constituency.
Trade union Unison called the action targeting the First Minister’s seat over the next two weeks after members working in non-teaching roles in schools rejected a pay offer from local authority body Cosla.The deal would have increased pay by 67p an hour or 3.6 per cent, whichever was higher, and was accepted by GMB and Unite, and council leaders voted to impose the increase on staff.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison said she takes the strike “incredibly seriously” because of the impact it is having on parents and children, but said the industrial action is “in no-one’s interests”.She told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I would certainly encourage dialogue to continue between Cosla and Unison.
A solution has to be found, but that cannot be a solution based on more money this year, because there simply is no more money available this year.“So the solution, I think, is really looking forward to the next year and beyond, and the potential for multi-year deals between local government and their unions.
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