DOZENS of council workers picketed the constituency office of SNP First Minister John Swinney today as they continue two weeks of targeted strike action over pay.

Unison members recently rejected a Scottish government-backed pay deal with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), which offered non-teaching school staff an extra 67p an hour or 3.6 per cent, whichever was greater.

They are now a week into targeted strike action, which has closed schools and early years centres across the First Minister’s Perthshire North constituency, a move which he branded “utterly unacceptable.”

Today, as 40 pickets shifted from the area’s schools and nurseries to his Blairgowrie constituency office, the First Minister once again hit out at striking workers for action which he claimed “unfairly targeted the parents and pupils of Perthshire North.” 

“My constituents in Perthshire North are being singled out simply because their elected representative in the Scottish Parliament happens to also be the first minister,” Mr Swinney said.

“That is completely unfair.”

Unison Perth and Kinross branch secretary Stuart Hope however warned of a national ballot unless Mr Swinney puts more cash on the table to fund workers’ pay.

Mr Hope said: “John Swinney is the one who can end this dispute as most council funding comes from the Scottish government.

“Education staff do not want to close schools. They all love their jobs and would prefer to be supporting children.

“The way to solve this is for Cosla, the Scottish government and the union to sit down in the same room and talk.

“Staff need to be valued and treated equally to other public-sector workers with the same level of investment.

“The option they have is crystal clear, they can get round the table with us and have these discussions.

“The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Shona Robison, has made mention of negotiations around future deals and things like this but these negotiations can only happen with the Scottish government at the table and, at the minute, they just keep deflecting to Cosla and that’s not acceptable.”

A spokesperson for Cosla said: “We are disappointed that Unison has taken industrial action targeted at children and young people, including the most vulnerable in special needs settings.

“Implementation of the pay award does not mean that discussions will end and Cosla remains fully committed to the negotiation process with all three trade unions.”