Glasgow City Council offers deal as homelessness caseworkers strike reaches 16th week

16/07/2015
CommonWeal

Deal under consideration by Unison members on all-out strike

STRIKING homelessness caseworkers have been offered a deal by Glasgow City Council as the all-out strike reaches its 16th week , union and council sources have confirmed.

After three and a half months of strike action, CommonSpace has learned that an offer has been made which, if accepted, could see the strike brought to an end.

A Glasgow City Council spokesperson told CommonSpace: “There have been extensive discussions with Unison and further proposals have been made.

“We believe there is a way forward within these proposals and it’s now up to Unison to make a decision.”

Speaking to CommonSpace, Stuart Graham, Unison steward for the southside of Glasgow, said: “We are considering the council’s latest offer.”

“There have been extensive discussions with Unison and further proposals have been made.” Glasgow City Council spokesperson

The council homelessness caseworkers, who are members of Unison trade union, began their strike at the end of March, with 70 workers, three-quarters of whom are women, undertaking an all-out strike in protest of low pay.

The dispute centres around the assigning of a pay grade to homelessness caseworkers which is a grade lower than that of council colleagues who do similar work.

Workers on pay grade 5, such as the homelessness caseworkers, earn between PS21,000 to PS24,500, while those on pay grade 6 earn between PS25,500 to PS30,000.

An announcement on the deal is expected at the start of next week.

Picture: CommonSpace