Unison union members vote against strike over Cosla pay offer

Council workers in Scotland have narrowly voted against going on strike over a pay offer described by their union Unison "as miserly".

Local government umbrella body Cosla offered staff a 1% pay rise which had followed on from a two year pay freeze.

Unison, which balloted its 75,000 members working for Scotland's 32 local authorities, said the offer had been "reluctantly" accepted.

Cosla had claimed a bigger pay rise could mean more job cuts.

The union's members include cooks, cleaners, classroom assistants, housing staff, library workers, cleansing and environmental protection staff and trading standards workers.