COSLA Resources Spokesperson , Councillor Katie Hagmann, has expressed COSLA's disappointment that Unison have rejected the latest pay offer from COSLA.

The current offer represents an average 4.27% pay increase across the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) workforce and is above the rate of inflation, with no pay points receiving less than a 3.6% increase.

Councillor Hagmann said:

"We are deeply disappointed to learn that Unison have rejected our latest strong, above inflation SJC pay offer. This offer is at the absolute limit of affordability for Local Government and fully exhausts all available additional funding from Scottish Government.

“Local Government have a responsibility to ensure sustainable service delivery for our communities across Scotland. We are clear that increasing the value of any pay offer would have very serious consequences. We remain concerned that Unison’s expectations cannot be met without further unpalatable difficult decisions.

“We are aware that communities will be concerned about the potential impact of industrial action on the most vulnerable. We would urge Unison to reconsider our strong offer which has an overall value of 4.27%." [END]