Dog Bites Man
Union leaders made a shock announcement yesterday - they are going to 'think' about taking strike action - over the Scottish employers decision to impose a pay deal.
Now in terms of the news agenda this is definitely in the same league as 'Dog Bites Man' - rather than 'Man Bites Dog'.
I suppose it is an improvement on a lot of windy rhetoric about manning the barricades - and the prospect of another 'winter of discontent'.
But union leaders have only themselves to blame - the employers caught them on the hop and left them looking completely flat footed.
Because with the unions refusing to negotiate seriously - the council employers simply withdrew their previous offer and substituted a new one - worth only 0.65% across the board this year - and a 0% increase (a pay freeze) for the next two years.
So trade union leaders have come back with a worse outcome - worth less than half of the offer tabled originally by the employers - and that takes some doing.
To add insult to injury - it's also a worse outcome than the settlement proposed for England and Wales - which at least makes an effort to protect the lowest paid council workers.
The unions are meeting next week to discuss the mess they've helped to create - and decide what to do next - so don't hold your breath.
But the reality is that Scotland's councils and the trade unions - have both done a great disservice to the low paid.
Now in terms of the news agenda this is definitely in the same league as 'Dog Bites Man' - rather than 'Man Bites Dog'.
I suppose it is an improvement on a lot of windy rhetoric about manning the barricades - and the prospect of another 'winter of discontent'.
But union leaders have only themselves to blame - the employers caught them on the hop and left them looking completely flat footed.
Because with the unions refusing to negotiate seriously - the council employers simply withdrew their previous offer and substituted a new one - worth only 0.65% across the board this year - and a 0% increase (a pay freeze) for the next two years.
So trade union leaders have come back with a worse outcome - worth less than half of the offer tabled originally by the employers - and that takes some doing.
To add insult to injury - it's also a worse outcome than the settlement proposed for England and Wales - which at least makes an effort to protect the lowest paid council workers.
The unions are meeting next week to discuss the mess they've helped to create - and decide what to do next - so don't hold your breath.
But the reality is that Scotland's councils and the trade unions - have both done a great disservice to the low paid.
