Unison suspend strike action

Roughly 5,000 council employees, represented by Unison, were set to strike over pay and conditions hampering a range of public services.

However, instead Unison will now ballot members on new proposals put forward by local government body COSLA.

The union states that the proposals concentrate on three areas of the dispute. These are the future participation in the agreed bargaining machinery;

consolidation of the Living Wage (already in place in South Lanarkshire) and the deletion of spinal column point below the level of the Living Wage.

Unison South Lanarkshire branch secretary Stephen Smellie said: “It’s an offer from COSLA and we are going back to speak to our members.

“The big issue for us was that Cosla had refused to talk to us throughout this process.

“They have now realised there’s a problem, got on the phone and agreed to talk to us and I welcome that.”