Council workers in Fife have voted to take strike action over their pay dispute. 

Unite has confirmed education and early years services in 10 council areas - including Fife - are set to face targeted action after its council membership voted for industrial action.

Thousands of key council workers are now set to take targeted industrial action when schools resume after the summer break. This includes janitors, cleaners, caterers, classroom assistants and administrative staff.

And there's potential for even further disruption as UNISON, the largest union in local government, last week announced an industrial action ballot of 30,000 school staff in every local authority in Scotland.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The message for both the Scottish Government and COSLA is loud and clear. Thousands of our members have voted to take strike action in education and early years services because they won’t accept a real terms pay cut.

"Our members deserve far more than the five per cent being served up by the politicians. We will support our members all the way in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions in local government.”

Unite said the latest development in the escalating pay dispute followed talks with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities’ (COSLA) last week where no improved pay offer was put on the table.

The current five per cent pay offer for 2023 was rejected by 84 per cent in a consultative ballot held by Unite in May.

Unite has also demanded that the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, directly intervene in the pay dispute following what it describes as a "collapse" in negotiations with COSLA. 

Graham McNab, Unite industrial officer, added: “Unite’s members will no longer be taken for granted or undervalued across Scottish councils. Our education and early years members are key workers who help to ensure that children have the safest and best possible learning environment.

"A five per cent pay offer when the broader cost of living remains in double digits is a harsh real terms pay cut no matter how much spin COSLA and the Scottish Government try to put on it.”

Unite's move towards strike action comes days after UNISON launched a ballot of council workers over the pay dispute.

Its vote will close on August 25 and it has warned that if staff vote to strike, there could be mass school closures across Scotland in September.

UNISON Scotland head of local government, Johanna Baxter, said: "COSLA's offer falls short of UNISON's pay claim, and it is also less than the offer made to the lowest paid local government staff south of the border. It would be a real-terms pay cut during the cost of living crisis.

"Despite efforts to move negotiations along, we're now at an impasse. COSLA has refused to improve its pay offer, which UNISON members overwhelmingly rejected.

"It also says it doesn't have the cash to offer more but is also refusing to ask the Scottish Government for additional funding. Council and school staff are fed up. All school staff should look out for their ballots, which will arrive in purple envelopes, vote and post back as soon as possible."

A COSLA spokesperson said as employers, council leaders have made a "strong offer" to the workforce. 

"It's a strong offer which clearly illustrates the value councils place on their workforce, and it compares well to other sectors," said the spokesperson. "It recognises the cost-of-living pressures on our workforce and critically, it seeks to protect jobs and services.

"While the offer value in year is 5.5 per cent, the average uplift on salaries going into the next financial year is seven per cent. Those on the Scottish Local Government Living Wage would get 9.12 per cent and those at higher grades, where councils are experiencing severe recruitment challenges, would see 6.05 per cent.

"It is an offer which recognises both the vital role of the people who deliver our essential services across councils every day and the value that we, as employers, place on them. 

"Crucially, it also raises the Scottish Local Government Living Wage by 99p to £11.84 per hour and sets out a commitment to work with our trade unions to develop a road map to £15 per hour in a way that protects our workforce and services we deliver."