Local Government Pay Online Ballot – Further Information
Following the revised pay offer from the Scottish Employers in December, UNISON are conducting a further consultative ballot asking members whether they wish to accept or reject the revised offer. Full details of the revised offer can be found on the UNISON Scotland website by using the link below:
http://www.unison-scotland.org/local-govt-pay-online-ballot-call-to-accept-offer/
The information on the revised offer from UNISON Scotland sets out the offer in a national context. However it is important that members within Inverclyde are aware that the offer has implications for us locally. The branch are asking members to take into account the following points before voting:
· The requirement for all councils to consolidate the living wage by 2021 is a key component in the revised offer. However UNISON members in Inverclyde have just agreed to accept a new pay and grading model following a consultative ballot in December. The new pay model includes a consolidated living wage. So this part of the revised national pay offer doesn’t affect members in Inverclyde.
· The revised offer is an overall increase of 9.5% over three years. This includes an increase of 3.5% on all spinal column points from 1st April 2018. However for members who currently receive a living wage supplement the value of this increase will be lower.
· This is because CoSLA use a living wage hourly rate of £8.51 while Inverclyde Council adopted the national living wage rate of £8.75 when it increased in November 2017. This was the right decision which the council took and was fully supported by UNISON. This means that from 1st April 2018 Inverclyde Council have paid a higher living wage rate than the official CoSLA rate.
· The offer means that the 3.5% increase from 1st April 2018 will apply to the CoSLA rate of £8.51 and not £8.75 which is the rate paid by Inverclyde Council. Members who are paid the hourly rate of £8.75 will be affected in one of two ways.
· Members on grades A, B and the first five spinal column points of grade C will be treated, for the purposes of this pay offer, as having a basic rate of pay of £8.51 per hour. Although actual basic rates vary the CoSLA rate is what is being used. The effect of the increase in year one is that the rate of £8.51 will increase to £8.81. The employers position is that members in Inverclyde (and some other Councils) have been receiving a rate of £8.75 since the 1st April 2018. In which case if the offer is accepted the actual increase from 1st April 2018 will be the £0.06 per hour – the difference between £8.75 and £8.81.
· Members on the top point of grade C and the bottom point of grade D are also affected although not to the same extent. However the employers will apply the exact same principles. The basic rate which applies here is £8.74 which is the actual rate of pay. An increase of 3.5% applied to £8.74 will mean a new rate of £9.05 per hour effective from the 1st April 2018 if the offer is accepted.
· Members on the 2nd point of grade D and above are not affected by this as no living wage supplement is applicable.
The branch also wanted to highlight a further point in the revised pay offer which focuses on the possibility of pay negotiations re-opening. This has been included in anticipation that Teachers may receive a higher pay award than what has been offered here. It is important that members read and understand what this means – or perhaps what it doesn’t mean. This does not mean that should the value of the Teacher’s pay award over the three years be higher than the value of this pay award, that this pay offer will be retrospectively increased. It is a commitment to re-opening negotiations but with no guarantee beyond this.
Once you have read all of the relevant information you can vote using the following link:
https://unison.tfaforms.net/56
