Nursery nurses offered pay rise

Published on Sunday 18 April 2004 01:00

NURSERY nurses in Edinburgh have been offered a 19% pay rise in an effort to end bitter industrial action.

Staff at council-run nurseries throughout Scotland have been striking in an effort to secure a national agreement on pay.

Industrial action is now in its eighth week and has caused chaos for many families, who have had to arrange alternative childcare.

But behind-the-scenes talks have seen Edinburgh City Council offer nurses a deal worth 9.80-an-hour for top-grade staff.

While unions have been holding out for a national offer from Cosla, which represents Scottish councils, many local agreements have been struck between staff and individual education departments.

One source at the Edinburgh branch of public sector union Unison said the offer would be enough to ease nurses’ demands for better pay and was hopeful it could end the city action.

"This is very significant stuff. It’s more in line with the national framework deal the union was seeking."

The offer will formally be put on the table next week. Prior to the action, senior-grade nurses in the capital earned 8.22-per-hour.