GLASGOW'S schools and nurseries could close during the week of August 22 as vital support staff have voted to walk out.

Alongside eight other councils in Scotland, thousands of workers are set to down tools as part of sustained action across the city.

The local authority staff across the country are taking industrial action over a Cosla pay offer of 2%.

Now it has been revealed that unions are considering the second week of the new school year as the time to take action.

READ MORE: Strike action in Glasgow schools moves forward

More than 5000 Unison members in the city were balloted. 

Lyn Marie O'Hara, Unison convenor for catering and facilities management, told the Glasgow Times: "Across Britain the workers are looking at each other and seeing people being undervalued.

"To come back with a 2% pay offer is nothing but insulting, a real slap in the face, and the feeling of members has been galvanised - this is about valuing the workforce.

"These workers were out there in the pandemic, they kept our schools open.

"Everybody is vital and that is a lesson that has really come to the fore in the pandemic, making the labour of our members much more visible.

"I do think we have public support for this action. Everybody knows somebody who is a council worker or a union member.

"If we don't get a decent offer in front of us then this is the reality - the schools will shut."

READ MORE: Will strike action close Glasgow's schools?

Unison represents janitors, school crossing patrollers, caterers and cleaners who have all voted for strike action.

Legally, to be able to take industrial action the union needs a return on the vote of 50% or more and this threshold was met. 

In Glasgow, 97% of those who returned their ballot voted to walk out. 

Waste and recycling services will also be on strike but Unison said the details of this are still being worked out.

Council workers across Scotland are asking for Cosla, the umbrella council organisation, to approve a £3000 rate payment for all council staff.

Those south of the border were offered a flat rate uplift of £1925, which for those on the lowest pay equates to a 10.5% increase.  

More than half council staff in Scotland are paid less than £25,000 per year. 

A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said that as soon as specific dates are lodged by the union, parents and carers will be notified. 

They added: “It is difficult to make a comment on school closures until we have been notified by the unions of the dates and details of the potential industrial action and will communicate with our families as soon as we can."

In response to the threat of strikes among cleansing workers, a second council spokesperson said the council had not yet received formal notice of industrial action.

The added: “Local authority pay negotiations are handled at a national level through Cosla and we support the principle of collective bargaining.

“We are looking at contingency plans to mitigate as far as possible the impact of any strike action that affects the council.”