NEWS of record unemployment levels- and falling unemployment in West Dunbartonshire- has been met with a lukewarm response from one trade union.

The STUC claim wages should now be heading in an upward trajectory- but claim the reality is quite the opposite.

Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) General Secretary Grahame Smith said: "With unemployment at record lows, you would expect wages to rise as workers grain greater bargaining power in the labour market.

"This clearly is not the case as real average weekly earnings have fallen across the UK by 0.5 per cent in the three months to June 2017.

"Serious questions about the health of our labour market continue, which underlines the economic illiteracy of Government policies that hold down pay in the current economic context.

"The STUC has consistently maintained that we require a greater focus from Government on improving the quality of work whilst stimulating the economy.

"We need an immediate end to the public sector pay cap and a significant increase in real wages across the economy.

"And the Scottish Government must use its tax and borrowing powers to invest in our public services and economic infrastructure.

"We desperately need a genuine industrial strategy that recognises the role of unions, building on the fair work framework to drive workplace innovation and the creation of productive, resilient and successful industries."