Police Scotland employees have rejected a salary offer, and are “working to rule” until they receive a better one.
The Police Negotiating Board for Scotland announced a 4.7% increase for all police officers earning PS28.296 or more. As part of this offer, those who earn up until the threshold will receive a PS1,344 increase.
The Board stated that it would not make any compulsory redundancies and that the increase in pay was higher than inflation and all other pay settlements within the Scottish public sector.
The Scottish Police Federation is asking for a 5.7% pay rise in 2024-25. Last year, a 7% increase in pay was approved following a long dispute and an initial demand for 8.5%.
Unison members at Police Scotland – which represent police staff like call handlers and detention officers – voted 63% to reject the new offer.
David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation wrote to Chief Constable Jo Farrell on Friday, 1 November. He informed her that officers would “withdraw their goodwill” at 5pm.
The withdrawal of goodwill includes not charging radios, taking home personal protective equipment and starting and ending rostered shifts as scheduled.
Kennedy said: “The chief Constable, the SPA, and the Scottish Government have let down the service. We are the backbone for the public sector. We continue to pick up the slack that other people don’t.
“Policy and procedure are not what keeps the police service afloat. The people who work in the police service, the cops, are what keeps it afloat. Yet they are treated with contempt.
“We demand that we be treated fairly and with the respect our hard-working members, who are police officers, deserve.”
David Malcolm, the Unison Scotland police branch secretary, said that he recommended officers reject the latest offer. “Police play a crucial role in keeping communities across the country safe. The justice system would not function without employees who work in control rooms and forensic labs.
When Police Scotland was founded a decade back, it was promised that the savings would be reinvested in the service. Since then, the only thing that has happened is a reduction of police officers and a cut in their pay. The spending on consulting firms like PwC and Deloitte went through the roof.
In recent months, Police Scotland faced a variety of staffing problems, including data from exit surveys that indicated officers were leaving because of high workloads, misogyny, and stress.
The pay increases for public sector employees in England and Wales were announced by the chancellor this summer.
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