Council pay rises

Council workers say they want more; Councils say they don't have enough to offer any larger increase in pay; Government tells the Councils to live within their means.

Sounds familiar?

The years of Thatcherism?

The Winter of Discontent in the mid-1970's?

And now in Scotland in 2008, when the various aspirations of the different parties are irreconcilable.

Of course, the same is happening in England, where Gordon Brown faces exactly the same problems, only without the Scottish Government as a buffer.

We will face strikes, lock-outs and a lot of bitterness - and for those using and needing Council services a lot of difficulties.

Now, I'm never one to expect inflation and salaries to necessarily be directly correlated, as performance improvements and changes in expectations and demands may make certain aspects of any organisation more or less important over time. The days of the blanket increases and permanent job security are long gone - except it seems in the public sector - and there is a need to reward good performance or high service demand by adjusting salaries.

BUT, coming on the back of regrading and single-status, many public sector employees must be feeling that they are getting nothing but bad news from their employers, and this is only going to compound the antagonism between the sides.

With the Scottish Government taking a very strong view against an increased settlement taking any responsibility for the decisions of local Government, I predict that the Unions will take a lot more industrial action before settling for an only slightly better offer, which will have to be funded by service cuts.

With the Government having given an unrealistic funding settlement for the increase in payroll costs, the cause is clear....but just who is going to get the blame from the public?