BIN STRIKE CALLED OFF
PLANS for binmen to strike in Glasgow during COP26 have been ditched after a last-minute pay rise offer from COSLA. The umbrella body – responsible for all councils in Scotland -– made an eleventh-hour bid to break the strike deadlock yesterday afternoon.
Under the proposal, cleansing workers and teaching staff could benefit from a one-year 5.89% pay rise for the lowest-paid council employees as part of a £1062 rise for those earning below £25,000.
It remains subject to a two-week consultation, however, the bid has led union chiefs to suspend plans for potential strikes during the climate summit.
Drew Duffy, GMB organising and equality officer, said: “We have received a new offer from COSLA that will be subject to a two-week consultation of our members from Monday, November 1, during which we have agreed to suspend strike action.
“While we are pleased that more money for key workers has been found at the 11th hour, the fact it’s taken to the brink of the COP26 to get this offer speaks volumes to our members.
“For months, COSLA said they couldn’t pay, and Ministers said they wouldn’t pay, while staff have been attacked by political leaders for standing up for their services and value.
“Our members will now decide if this offer delivers that value, but it’s clear that Ministers and employers must show far more respect to the people providing vital local services.”
A majority of union members had voted to take industrial action during the climate summit after the “kick in the teeth” pay offer from COSLA last week.
Earlier, representatives from the GMB met with Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar to show him the conditions in the streets and back lanes that confronted cleansing workers.
He met Chris Mitchell, shop steward in Cessnock, for a walkabout in streets and back lanes that are blighted by fly tipping and dirty conditions.
The trade union official showed him back lanes with fly tipping and mud and rubbish that the union say is a hazard to refuse collectors.
Mr Mitchell said: “This is the kind of conditions our members are facing.
“There’s rats as well. We’ve came across rats in these lanes before plenty of times. Because rats are attached to things like this. This is a perfect breeding ground for rats. And we have to endure it.
Sarwar said: “This absolutely should have been resolved long ago and the reality is Nicola Sturgeon can pretend we’ve just been talking about the waste crisis in the last few days.
“We have been relentlessly taking about this for months.”