HUNDREDS of staff at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) are being balloted for industrial action after rejecting a “totally unacceptable” pay proposal, Unite said yesterday.

The workforce has been offered a 3 per cent rise, which, with the RPI rate of inflation now at 4.8 per cent, their union has branded a real-terms pay cut.

Last year, staff took strike action to secure a deal backdated to 2023, a pattern they believe is set to be repeated, since this year’s pay increase is already five months overdue.

Announcing the ballot of 400 members across all roles at the SQA, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The pay offer amounts to a real-terms pay cut and that is totally unacceptable.”

Unite industrial officer Alison Maclean said the workers “feel completely undervalued and taken for granted,” adding: “Scottish government ministers also are suggesting the pay dispute has nothing to do with them, when everyone knows they are the paymasters.

“If our members have to take industrial action,the blame will lie squarely with management and ministers.”

The SQA and the Scottish government were approached for comment.