Week 12

Nairn Show, possible strike action, and period products

Before I start on council business a quick mention of the Nairn Show which made a welcome return on Saturday and at a new location which was far more convenient to visit in foot. It were blessed with good weather too.

I visited with my cameras and took some photos, a selection of which you can find online here. Thank you to the Nairnshire Farming Society for organising an excellent community event for Nairn.

Next up is the Nairn Highland Games in three weeks’ time on 20th July August.

Strike Action

The cost of living crisis is, unsurprisingly, leading to a rise in industrial action and the Unite union, along with others, have voted to strike over the offer to Scottish local government workers of a 2% pay rise. This comes at a time when inflation is over 10% so it’s in effect a significant pay cut.

Local government salaries are negotiated nationally, not council by council, and the negotiators on the employers’ side is the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and they have said they want to increase the offer to 5% … but they say they can only do that if the Scottish Government provides extra funding.

Hopefully the threat of strike action will help resolve things but if not then in our council area there will be action in refuse and waste services in mid-August so we may miss bin collections.

I’ll keep you posted as I hear more on this.

Free period products consultation

The council is currently working to make period products freely available to everyone who needs them. This is funded by the Scottish Government, and in line with the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 aiming at tackling period poverty, promoting period dignity and breaking the stigma surrounding periods in Scotland.

As part of this process they’re undertaking a consultation on where and how you would like to see free period products made available in the Highlands. The consultation is open until this Wednesday, 3rd August so, if you’ve got a view, then you need to respond quickly. You can do so here.