More strikes set to hit Argyll

Argyll and the rest of Scotland faces a fraught industrial landscape in the coming months with a number of workforces threatening strike action, including teachers, NHS staff and posties.

 

The strikes are being planned in response to stagnant wages and rising inflation, which surged to a 41-year high of 11.1 per cent in October. From the railways to the classroom to our hospitals, there is frustration in the public and private sector.

 

Postal workers are set to hold a series of strikes, delaying letter and parcel deliveries in the run-up to Christmas.

 

About 115,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are taking part in the dispute with Royal Mail.

 

Another wave of strikes is planned for today, December 9, December 11, 14, 15 - some of the busiest days for pre-Christmas deliveries.

 

On Wednesday (December 7), two separate teaching unions carried out further industrial action which impacted a number of schools in the region.

 

Bunessan Primary

 

Campbeltown Grammar School

 

Dunoon Grammar School

 

Glassary Primary School

 

Hermitage Academy

 

Islay High School

 

Kilmartin Primary School

 

Lochgilphead High School

 

Oban High School

 

Rothesay Academy

 

Tarbert 2-18 School

 

Tobermory School

 

Only Campbeltown Grammar was fully closed; the rest remained open for some pupils.

 

Teachers in Scotland are planning to strike on a further 16 days in the dispute over pay - the consecutive days of action will be split across every council in the country and will take place in January and February next year.

 

Teachers in Argyll and Bute are now set to strike again on Thursday February 2.

 

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members were due to stage their first strike action this month, joining transport and postal workers on the picket lines in disputes over pay and conditions. However, these plans were put on pause amid fresh pay negotiations with the Scottish Government.

 

Members of the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland now have until midday on Monday December 19 to vote for or against what the government has described as its 'best and final' pay offer for NHS staff.

 

The Scottish Government raised its pay offer to NHS staff, with proposals that would deliver an average uplift of 7.5 per cent, and as much as 11.3 per cent for the lowest paid. Unison said it was putting the offer to its members in Scotland with a recommendation to accept.

 

Meanwhile, staff at ScotRail accepted an increased pay offer, averting a planned series of strikes. The RMT had planned regular walk-outs on Fridays and Saturdays up to Christmas.