UNISON has threatened strikes in every Scottish council if money is not found to pay local government workers.
The union’s warning came amid strikes that have closed schools in First Minister John Swinney’s constituency.
It called the fortnight of action 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. It was accepted by GMB and Unite, and council leaders voted to impose the increase on staff.
Scottish 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.”
Ms Robison said “difficult decisions” had had to be taken to provide the money that is already on the table.
In a statement published on its website, Perth and Kinross Council announced all primary schools, nurseries, intensive support settings and two secondary schools were closed today.
Stuart Hope, Unison branch secretary in Perth and Kinross, said it was a “very difficult decision” to close the schools but that members feel they have had enough.
He told BBC Radio Scotland: “Our members are kind of speaking in force these next couple of weeks to say that they feel undervalued and they feel underpaid.
“They deserve better deals. They deserve better pay and they deserve to be more valued by the Scottish government.”
But he warned that strike action could spread to every council in Scotland if a resolution is not reached.
“We have 17 other mandates in place across Scotland, then also preparation under way for an all-member ballot,” he said.
“So that would be every council worker, local government council worker and Unison member across Scotland balloted for strike action.
“If that’s a successful ballot, then we could be looking at strike action and industrial action in every area of every council in Scotland.”
He said that after the current two weeks of industrial action are out of the way the union will decide on the next steps.
