Scottish unions press Sturgeon to improve cost of living measures

Emboldened by Edinburgh bin strikes, unions call for talks on pay rises, child benefits and rent controls

Scottish trade union leaders have urged Nicola Sturgeon to spend hundreds of millions more on the cost of living crisis as nurses, teachers and midwives consider striking over their pay.

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and the Poverty Alliance, an influential umbrella group, have asked the first minister to accept inflation-matching pay increases, a rise in child benefits to 40 a week and strict rent controls funded by new wealth taxes.