ONE of Scotland's three civil service unions has come out against strike action over pay and advised its members to accept the Scottish Government's offer.
Prospect said a campaign of one and two-day stoppages over the coming months was unlikely to force ministers to agree a better deal.
The larger Public and Commercial Services Union is currently balloting its 4000 members on strike action which cou
ld hit a wide range of activities across the country, including property transactions and prosecutions in Scotland's courts.
But Prospect has concluded the current offer is the best that can be achieved.
Pay talks have involved the PCS, Prospect and the First Division Association, representing senior civil servants. Finance Secretary John Swinney wrote to employees last month, appealing them to recognise the financial constraints under which the Scottish Government was operating.
In an email to members, Prospect said it had been seeking an inflation-plus increase of six per cent, while the offer meant a basic increase of two per cent, in line with the government's pay policy, but with an extra one per cent for some staff.
And the lowest paid would see minimum pay increase by 28 per cent over three years.
The union said its branch executive committee had agreed the offer should be recommended for acceptance in a straightforward consultative ballot.
"The BEC believe that this offer is not only the best that could be achieved through the negotiating process, but also the best that us likely to be achievable in any circumstances.
"We were of the opinion that even an extended and protracted industrial action campaign would be unlikely to persuade ministers to move beyond the terms of their own Scottish Public Sector Pay Policy."
It said industrial action cost members around 0.5 per cent of their salary for every day of action.
And it added: "It would be wrong to tell members to embark on such a campaign of one and two day strikes through this summer and autumn in the vain hope that ministers might change their mind."
Prospect now plans a series of meetings for its members to discuss the offer. Members are due to receive ballot papers next week and voting will close on July 25.
The PCS ballot for strike action is due to close on July 18.
In his letter to civil servants, Mr Swinney said: "It has been necessary to prepare a pay remit within the constraints resulting from the UK Government applying the smallest increase in the Scottish Government budget since devolution. I believe that this pay proposal is better than most staff would have expected, which is a result of my determination to allow as much flexibility as I could to help staff meet the pressures of a rising cost of living.
"I have been mindful of the pressures you face. I simply ask you to recognise the financial background against which I have taken this decision."
A Scottish Government source welcomed Prospect's decision to recommend acceptance. He said: "We are delivering a more generous and flexible settlement than is being done in Whitehall. This is a positive and encouraging development."
The full article contains 531 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
