| UNISON City of Edinburgh Branch |
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22 May 2003 'If you mean what you say, then let's have talks' nursery nurses tell councilOn their second day of strike action, Edinburgh's nursery nurses are calling on their employers to bring something new to the table and get back into talks. "We heard and read all over the media yesterday the employers saying they wanted talks. They now need to be saying that to nursery nurses, not just the media. If you mean what you say, then lets have talks. But after two years of nothing, there now has to be something on the table", said Barbara Foubister, Edinburgh UNISON Chair and a nursery nurse herself. UNISON officials in Edinburgh expect the strike action to have even more effect today as the effects begin to bite. They also expect more pressure to build from the public as they find out just how bad nursery nurse pay is. The union locally is angry at CoSLA's 'misleading' comments about resolving the issue through a job evaluation scheme which doesn't in fact exist. "To hear them talk you would think that this scheme is in place. It is not, and there is hardly any sign of it coming. Edinburgh Council in particular is pessimistic about it being in place even next year, if at all. All this despite the scheme being part of an agreement we signed up to in 1999", said John Stevenson, Edinburgh UNISON Branch Secretary. Edinburgh's nursery nurses will return to work on Friday but more strikes will follow as part of a Scotland-wide rolling programme of action. ENDS |
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