Latest news with #ScottishLivingWage
Scotsman
30-07-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Passenger assistants at major Scottish airport to ballot over strike action
Potential strike action could take place from early September if the ballot is successful. Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Workers at a major Scottish airport are being balloted on strike action in an escalating dispute over pay. It has been revealed today that 200 OCS Group workers based at Edinburgh Airport will be balloted from Wednesday until August 19. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad OCS has tabled the lowest possible wage offer of £12.60 an hour to match the Scottish Living Wage minimum rate to the workers which they overwhelmingly rejected. Make sure you keep up to date with news from across Scotland by signing up to our free newsletter here. The OCS Group covers workers who aid passengers with reduced mobility issues including assisting with wheelchairs and ambilift vehicles for travellers at Edinburgh airport. It means potential strike action could take place from early September if the ballot is successful. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The ballot started on Wednesday. | Bloomberg via Getty Images Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'Unite's members working for OCS based at Edinburgh airport deserve far more than what the company is offering which is the lowest possible that they can get away with. 'Unite will not tolerate low pay and our members will have the full backing of their union in the fight for better jobs, pay, and conditions.' Workers 'vital' to assisting hundreds of passengers every week Carrie Binnie, Unite industrial officer, said: 'OCS workers are vital to assisting hundreds of passengers every week with mobility issues at Edinburgh airport. 'For OCS to put the bare minimum on the table is unacceptable. 'The workers are essential to the airport, and they should be valued and rewarded properly.
The Herald Scotland
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Unions demand action from Scottish Government over care worker pay row
In April this year, social care worker pay was increased to £12.60 in line with the Scottish Living Wage. However, unions want to see this increased to at least £15 an hour. Ahead of FMQs, care workers protest pay outside Holyrood with union bosses calling for immediate intervention from the Scottish Government. It coincides with strikes by Enable Scotland workers in Glasgow and Edinburgh Story for @heraldscotland soon — Hannah Brown (@HannahMargBrown) June 12, 2025 It comes as today, protestors set off from Tron Kirk in Edinburgh and marched down High Street to Holyrood, rallying against what the union Unison have described as "years of broken promises and delays" by the Scottish government regarding reform and funding of social care. The demonstration coincides with strikes by Enable Scotland workers in Glasgow and Edinburgh over their pay. The action is part of the first national care strike in Scotland in over a decade, which has already seen walkouts in East Renfrewshire, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. READ MORE: Hundreds of care staff to go on strike over £38m SNP U-turn Attending the protest, Roz Foyer, general secretary of the Scottish Trade Union said: 'We are here today to support these enable workers who are unfortunately having to take strike action. "They are not doing it lightly. They are striking for better pay and conditions for care workers and this is actually a dispute for the whole care sector.' 'Enable don't hold the answer to paying these workers more. This is an issue that the Scottish Government's going to have to intervene on. These workers deserve to be paid for the very skilled work that they do and we should be starting with a baseline of £15 an hour. 'We need Scottish Government intervention now to ensure that the care sector doesn't collapse. 'We need the government to intervene to give a starting rate of £15 an hour, to give us proper collective bargaining rights across this sector and to make sure workers and charities like Enable are properly paid for the very highly skilled work that they do.' Ms Foyer also said she would like to know 'where the missing millions are' in terms of the Scottish Government's pledge to improve sick worker pay. In May, trade union Unison told The Herald the decision to go on strike was in response to a U turn on a pledge of £38m of extra funding by ministers made in 2021 after it agreed to improve pay and conditions in the sector. Unison Scotland's lead for social care Jennifer McCarey said: 'Care workers have had enough of delays and broken promises and feel they've no choice but to take their protest to the Scottish government.' The union represents around 600 workers at Enable Scotland and has agreed 'life and limb' cover with the employer during the strike to protect those most at risk. Enable Scotland employee Anna Baird said: 'If ministers value us as much as they say they do, then it's time they funded social care properly and paid us fairly. 'We love our jobs and don't want to be on strike. But we are some of the lowest-paid workers in the country and fed up of waiting." The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
The Herald Scotland
24-05-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
Hundreds of care staff to go on strike over £38m SNP U-turn
It will be the first national walkout in more than a decade, beginning in East Renfrewshire and continuing in Aberdeenshire, Moray, Ayrshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Trade union Unison said the decision to go on strike was in response to a U turn on a pledge of £38m of extra funding by ministers made in 2021 after it agreed to improve pay and conditions in the sector. Wendy Hudson, Unison social care organiser, told The Herald: 'Social care workers have suffered a catalogue of broken promises by the Scottish Government. Since the pandemic their pay has got worse, and the service is in crisis. READ MORE: SNP to end 'hunger and homelessness' in human rights bill after Highlands report Former justice secretary urges MSPs to back Regan's prostitution crackdown bill Are we about to see a 'summer of discontent' hit the Edinburgh festivals again? "The £38m pledged by the Scottish Government four years ago should have gone into care workers pay packets - to improve their pay, sick pay and maternity leave. Instead this money has been taken back." She warned that workers for other care providers would also go on strike unless the Scottish Government acted. "Enable is one of the better employers. Thousands of care workers across Scotland only get paid the Scottish Living Wage and basic statutory sick pay," she said. The workers who will go on strike are members of the trade union Unison (Image: Jamie Simpson) "Care workers in Scotland have run out of patience. This strike at Enable is the first for many years and others will follow unless the Scottish Government fund the sector properly.' A briefing document by Unison passed to The Herald said that a freedom of information request by the union in October 2023 found that funds allocated to "Fair Work in Social Care" to improve terms and conditions for staff had been moved to another part of the budget. "Approximately £38m originally assigned to Fair Work in 2022/23 is re-prioritised accordingly within the health and social care portfolio - which had been allocated to change conditions of employment such as maternity, paternity and sick pay," it said. Responding to Unison's freedom of information request at the time the Scottish Government confirmed the £38m promised in 2021 had been moved elsewhere to the health and social care budget "as changing conditions of employment" was a matter which came under the UK Government's control. READ MORE: Care workers at Scottish charity vote for walk out over pay conditions Social care workers in charity sector to vote on strike action Ministers to consider writing off domestic abuse victims' council tax debt "Work through the Fair Work in Social Care Group in 2021 developed a minimum terms and conditions framework for the Adult Social Care commissioned services workforce reflecting Fair Work principles. This work is being taken forward in collaboration with key stakeholders on a phased approach," it said. "The initial phase of exploratory work identified a question of legislative competence around delivery, specifically as employment law, including changing conditions of employment (such as maternity/paternity leave and sick pay), is reserved to the UK Government. "Working through these issues has taken longer than originally anticipated, as alternate routes of delivery that are within the devolved powers of Scottish Ministers needed to be explored. "One possible contractual route for implementation has been identified and work continues with this. This has meant that implementation of the first of the recommendations is likely to begin in the 2023-24 financial year, with £38 million originally assigned to this in 2022-23 re prioritised accordingly within the Health and Social Care Portfolio." Anna Baird, a Unison member and a personal assistant with Enable Scotland for eight years, said: "I love my job and the people I support, that's why this decision was so hard. But we're at breaking point. We've been made promises for years, but nothing changes. "Our pay doesn't reflect the responsibility we carry and many of us are struggling to make ends meet. We're just asking to be valued for the vital work we do." Unison Scotland regional organiser Jennifer McCarey said "not a single promise" had been kept by ministers and that care workers pay pay was now worse. In April this year, social care worker pay was increased to £12.60 in line with the Scottish Living Wage. Unison has listed the dates of the strikes as follows: May 29 – East Renfrewshire; June 3 Aberdeenshire and Moray; June 6 Ayrshire; June 10 North Lanarkshire/Central services staff; and June 12 Edinburgh and Glasgow. The strikes will conclude with a march and rally at the Scottish Parliament on 12 June. To protect those most at risk, Unison has agreed "life and limb" cover with the employer for during the strike. Minister for Social Care Maree Todd said: 'We are committed to delivering fair work and improving the experience of workers in the social care sector. 'Clearly funding is a challenge in the current financial climate and the UK Government's recent decisions to hit the sector with a double whammy of increases in employer National Insurance Contribution payments, coupled with plans to end international recruitment will be devastating for the care sector. "That is why the Scottish Government has called on the UK Government to reverse this proposal. "The Scottish Government has committed to enabling the payment of the Real Living Wage to all workers delivering commissioned services since 2016. "This means Scottish care workers are amongst the best paid in the UK. For the 2025-26 financial year, we will be investing an additional £125 million to support pay, taking the estimated total investment in this policy to £950 million. 'Improving wider terms and conditions for the social care workforce remains a priority, and we are continuing to work with providers and trade unions to make progress on the issues identified through our Fair Work in Social Care Group. While this will be dependent on resolving budget pressures, progress on Sectoral Bargaining and our ongoing engagement with the UK Government on the Employment Rights Bill will also help drive improvements in pay, terms and conditions.' An Enable spokeswoman said: 'Enable is disappointed by the decision to strike, but we are working positively with Unison on our shared principle of minimising the adverse impact of this action on the people we support. "Significantly enhanced pay beyond the real living wage is entirely dependent on external funding. "Enable has worked with Unison to advance Fair Work across the social care sector for a number of years, and we would welcome a national pay settlement for the charity sector social care workforce which is on a par with pay deals for care workers in the public sector.'
