School staff protest in Glasgow during day of industrial action
Glasgow school support staff protested in the city centre today as they continued their strike over low pay.
Unison members across Scotland walked out on Wednesday, forcing hundreds of schools to close after members voted overwhelmingly to reject Cosla's latest pay offer.
Schools from the Glasgow City, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, and Inverclyde areas have been affected by the industrial action today, with more strikes to come.
Read more: School strikes Scotland: Full list of council areas affected
The next day of action is Wednesday, November 8, when a further four council areas will be impacted. That includes South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh, and Fife.
And another walkout has been announced for November 15, when staff from Angus, Dundee City, Clackmannanshire, Perth and Kinross and Stirling will strike.
Glasgow school support staff protested in the city centre today as they continued their strike over low pay.
Unison members across Scotland walked out on Wednesday, forcing hundreds of schools to close after members voted overwhelmingly to reject Cosla's latest pay offer.
Schools from the Glasgow City, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, and Inverclyde areas have been affected by the industrial action today, with more strikes to come.
Read more: School strikes Scotland: Full list of council areas affected
The next day of action is Wednesday, November 8, when a further four council areas will be impacted. That includes South Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh, and Fife.
And another walkout has been announced for November 15, when staff from Angus, Dundee City, Clackmannanshire, Perth and Kinross and Stirling will strike.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:05 Where are we from?
00:06 BNP!
00:07 Where do we work for?
00:08 Here!
00:09 My name's Cath Stirling, I'm the branch chair of Glasgow City Unison.
00:12 We're here today with regards to this rubbish pay offer, how to dispute it.
00:19 We need the pay gap closed.
00:21 I work with families who are really struggling, and I try my hardest to help these families out.
00:27 But actually, the people who need the help are the colleagues I work with.
00:31 They're sitting beside me, some of them can't afford to come in with a cup of tea in their hands.
00:35 Or sometimes a lunch, and we're having to try and help provide that.
00:39 Children in nursery are not getting educated and beyond.
00:42 We need to stand together to sort this out.
00:44 Please Glasgow, help us out. Thank you.
00:47 [Cheering]
00:49 It has been a cold and wet morning already.
00:53 I just want to say thank you to every single Unison member who has continued the fight for fair pay for all local government workers across Scotland.
01:03 Your tenacity and resolve to improve the pay offer is outstanding.
01:11 And as others have said, there will be more strike action next week.
01:17 And just before this rally took place, we just served notice on another five local authorities for the 15th.
01:25 [Cheering]
01:27 Now, I want to reassure you of something, because I know that you would much prefer to be in classrooms supporting children's education like you do every single day,
01:40 rather than getting drenched outside them on picket lines.
01:44 I just want you to know, your Unison negotiators are working round the clock to try to get a negotiated settlement to this dispute.
01:54 As long as you keep telling us that this pay rise and this pay offer is not good enough,
02:00 then Scotland's trade union movement will stand behind you in solidarity for the fight that you're taking forward.
02:06 So solidarity and greetings from right across Scotland's trade union movement.
02:11 We need a pay rise. Can I afford to do what we put my hat on tonight? Probably not.
02:16 As we know, as we said earlier on, it's a political choice. It's a political choice that they've done.
02:21 Local government has been decimated for years.
02:25 All you out there that were on the picket lines and other council workers are working harder.
02:29 Staff haven't been replaced. Services have been shut down.
02:33 And then they're telling you, don't ask for any more, when you've been forced to do that.
02:38 Don't let anyone say that your fight is not just, because it absolutely is.
02:42 And we're not going to go anywhere.
02:44 [Cheering]
02:48 What do we want?
02:49 Fair pay!
02:50 When do we want it?
02:51 Now!
02:52 [Music]
02:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]