Civil servants working for the Scottish Government in the have voted to accept a pay deal that will see them receive a rise of 3% from next month.
The deal accepted by members of the PCS, FDA and Prospect trade union working in the Scottish Government also includes a commitment to no compulsory redundancies for the duration of the pay deal, and the introduction of a new rate of payment for staff required to be on call.
Acceptance of the offer comes despite initial resistance of the Scottish ministers’ pay policy by the unions.
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When the overall policy, which is applied across 44 departments, agencies and other public bodies, was published in December, it set out that public officials earning £36,500 or less will receive a 3% pay rise, but a lower limit of up to 2% increase in baseline paybill for those earning above £36,500 and below £80,000. Those earning above £80,000 will have their increases capped in cash terms at £1,600, according to the plan.
Civil service unions had raised concerns about the pay policy due to the anticipated wage splits, but following negotiations with the Scottish Government main bargaining unit, the unions recommended acceptance of the offer for central Scottish Government staff to their members. Features of the final offer included some staff receiving higher consolidated award due to progression payments, while staff already on the maximum salary for their pay band will receive an additional 1%, non-consolidated payment.
As a result, FDA trade union national officer Allan Sampson said that “3% should be the lowest rise anyone gets”, and the union had recommended acceptance of the pay bargaining unit offer.
"I am delighted that members have again voted to accept the pay offer for Scottish Government main bargaining unit, securing for the second year in succession an above-inflation pay rise for our talented and hard-working members, and delivering upon ministers commitments to restoration of pay across the Scottish sector,” he said.
Prospect negotiator Richard Hardy said the settlement fell short of what unions had sought for members but was still a significant improvement on the across-the-board 2% award for UK government civil servants set out in Cabinet Office guidance earlier this month. The UK guidance said individual departments could make the case for higher awards where needed to recruit and retain staff.
“We've expressed on numerous occasions our disappointment about the failure to make a real start on pay restoration for staff employed at Scottish Government but we recognise that there are constraints on what the Scottish Government can afford," HArdy said.
"However this pay rise at least ensures that members do not fall further behind in real wage terms and represents another substantial improvement over what our members employed by Westminster will receive. This is another indication of the influence of unions in Scotland."