November 2024 Pay dispute

Pressure on the Scottish Government and Police Scotland to end the pay dispute is being ramped up after police staff warned they are willing to take industrial action, and officers removed ‘goodwill’.

Unison Scotland – which represents staff including call handlers, crime scene officers and CCTV operators – voted by 63 per cent to reject the 4.75 per cent pay increase, which is says “falls short”.

This mirrors the decision by the ‘staff side’ – which represents police officers in Scotland – as it also rejected an offer of 4.75 per cent, submitting a counter offer of 5.5 per cent.

While their police staff colleagues can now take industrial action, police officers cannot strike – however they have withdrawn ‘goodwill’, which involves measures such as refusing to start shifts early, claiming payments for overtime, and not taking personal protective equipment (PPE) home at the end of the day.

David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, which represents 98 per cent of police officers in Scotland, said potential strike action by police staff will place the ‘official side’ under pressure.

He said: “Unison members of police staff are willing to take industrial action, which only goes to show the sheer disappointment and frustration that is felt across the whole police service.

“We work together every day, we support each other and we will now stand together.

“With the strike action now looming with Unison, I think Police Scotland and the government are under pressure.

“They will decide where they’re going to strike, but it will have a knock-on effect.”

Other affected police staff roles include terrorism specialists, cyber-crime investigators and digital forensic staff.

“We work together every day, we support each other and we will now stand together”

Unison Scotland branch secretary David Malcolm said: “Police staff are standing up for fair pay and are prepared to take industrial action, if necessary.”

Meanwhile, the police officer pay negotiations are heading towards arbitration if a new pay deal is not table within the next few weeks.

The pay claim has been going on for months after the staff side initially submitted a claim for 5.7 per cent back in May, which it has now revised to 5.5 per cent.

A 5.5 per cent rise would mirror what has been agreed for 170,000 nurses and healthcare workers in Scotland’s NHS.

But the official side’s 4.75 per cent offer matches an agreement already reached by the new Labour government at Westminster for police officers in England and Wales.

Officers staged a peaceful protest outside Holyrood last month and are planning another in Glasgow at the end of November.

In a circular to officers, Kennedy thanked them for their “solidarity”.

“The withdrawal of goodwill will unfortunately be of great disruption to a lot of officers both within front line and in departments, however it’s necessary to show the service and government that police officers’ goodwill cannot be taken for granted and as before, it will be a financial and disruptive cost to the service if officers remove this.”

Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said: “Our officers work tirelessly every day to keep people safe across the country and it is right that their public service is recognised and rewarded.

“We know the impact that a situation like this has on our people but are confident they will continue to demonstrate the highest levels of commitment to communities across Scotland.

“We note the position of the staff side of the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland to progress to conciliation and arbitration and are committed to co-operating with that process.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson added: “We are aware of the outcome of the union ballots. We will update staff on the next steps in the coming days.”

* Effective August 1
** Subject to consultative vote. Cumulative offer of 8.5% from April 1 and 2.3% from October 1
*** Effective July 1

Additional reporting by Alex Mortimer