COUNCIL workers in Argyll and Bute are set to receive formal ballot papers this week to decide whether to vote for strike action over pay.
UNISON announced recently that it intended to ballot more than 80,000 workers across all 32 Scottish council areas in a dispute over pay.
Local government employer body COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) has offered all council workers in Scotland a three per cent increase for 2025/26.
COSLA and Argyll and Bute Council have previously said that they hope that strike action can be avoided.
UNISON Scotland’s co-lead for local government David O’Connor said: “Dedicated council staff have seen the value of their pay fall for more than a decade, as wages failed to keep pace with the cost of living.
“These workers deliver high-quality, vital services to communities, despite increasing pressures, dwindling resources and significant staffing shortages.
“Strike action is always a last resort, but local government workers have been underpaid and undervalued for far too long.”
A COSLA spokesperson recently told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “In February, following early negotiations, COSLA made an offer of three per cent to the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) unions representing the majority of the Scottish Local Government workforce.
“Sadly, this was rejected outright by the unions without giving their members an opportunity to vote on the offer. Instead, the unions chose to ask their members to consider industrial action in pursuit of a higher pay offer.
“The current offer was made early in the negotiations process, as requested by our unions, and remains on the table. It’s the best possible offer within the funding we have available.
“The offer is above the current CPI rate of inflation (which was 2.8 per cent in February) and minimises the risk of cuts to essential Local Government services and jobs. We must be clear – the current offer is still not without challenges for councils struggling to balance budgets.
“While we acknowledge the right to strike, strikes are in no one’s best interests and unsustainable increases in pay would result in cuts to services and higher taxes.
“We implore our unions to fully consult their members on the current pay offer rather than immediately seeking to escalate to damaging industrial action.”
An Argyll and Bute Council spokesperson also previously said: “We are keen to see negotiations continue at a national level through COSLA with the trade unions.”
