Nursery World - Nursery nurses ballot for strike

Nursery nurse members of the public sector union Unison in Scotland moved a step closer to industrial action last week after talks broke down with their local authority employers. A delegate meeting of nursery nurses voted overwhelmingly at the end of February to request a ballot for strike action. Unison will decide whether to endorse this request at a meeting on 6 March, after which local authorities will be notified of the union's intention to carry out the ballot.

A delegate meeting of nursery nurses voted overwhelmingly at the end of February to request a ballot for strike action. Unison will decide whether to endorse this request at a meeting on 6 March, after which local authorities will be notified of the union's intention to carry out the ballot.

The nursery nurses' vote followed the breakdown of talks by a working party that included representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA), Unison and the GMB and TGWU unions. The working party met three times, in October and November 2002 and finally in January this year.

Carol Ball, chair of Unison's Scottish nursery nurse working party, said that after pressing Scotland's employers to sit down and look at the issues, Unison had been presented with proposals that 'took us precisely nowhere'. She said, 'Nursery nurses are rapidly coming to the end of their tether. We feel we have wasted six months.'

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included