National Pay Bargaining – Updated Pay Offer
As mentioned in Employee News 27, as part of the ongoing pay dispute between COSLA and Trade Unions GMB, Unison and Unite, an updated pay award offer was made by COSLA on Thursday 21 September.
In response, both GMB and Unite suspended planned strike action of employees in Schools and Early Year Facilities (Schools Facilities Management – Catering, Cleaning and Janitorial, and Education Support – Early Years Workers, Support for Learning, School Admin), whilst Unison confirmed that they would still be undertaking the strike action on Tuesday 26, Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 September.
COSLA is keen that all Council employees are aware of the details of its latest offer. As a result, COSLA has asked us to share the below so that all employees have the most up-to-date information.
Thanks
Ann Davie
Depute Chief Executive
Your Pay: The Reality
The Impact of COSLA’s Revised Pay Offer, 22 SEPTEMBER 2023
With this new improved offer, every single Local Government worker will see a pay rise in 2023/2024 of between 6.05% and 9.59%.
As requested by our Trade Unions, the offer has been focused on those on the lowest salaries, who are most impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.
The table below, based on a 37-hour working week, shows the impact of the offer on a range of pay points so you can see what it will likely mean for you:
| Spinal Column Point (SCP) | Equivalent Salary in 22/23 |
Total increase (and increase compared to COSLA’s original offer) |
New equivalent Salary in 23/24 | Percentage increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | £20,933 | £2006 (£748) | £22,939 | 9.59% |
| 24 | £22,573 | £1929 (£641) | £24,502 | 8.55% |
| 33 | £25,254 | £1929 (£500) | £27,183 | 7.64% |
| 55 | £33,531 | £2,199 (£391) | £35,730 | 6.56% |
| 65 | £38,586 |
£2,334 |
£40,920 | 6.05% |
With this new improved offer, 83% of our workforce (those who are earning up to £38,500) will receive an above inflation average 8% increase. The full workforce will receive an above inflation average increase of 6.95%.
Background Information
- The much-enhanced pay offer is worth around £430m – a funding package between Scottish and Local Government.
- It is explicitly based on the ask of unions to target all those earning £33,000 or less and backdated in full to 1 April 2023.
- We have worked hard to protect our essential front-line workers and recognise the cost-of-living pressures.
- It will see the lowest paid in the Local Government Workforce get an increase in salary of £2006 (or just under 10%).
- With this average increase of 6.95% for the Scottish Local Government Workforce, this means that the offer is now sitting above the current rate of inflation (6.3% for CPIH and 6.7% for CPI, updated 20th Sep 2023 by Office for National Statistics).
- We have made a commitment to work proactively with Trade Unions and Scottish Government to progressively and sustainably work towards a £15 per hour minimum rate.
- This new improved offer is a better deal than the National Joint Council (NJC) equivalent in England.