Extra £30m helps to avert bin strike
A BINS strike which threatened to embarrass SNP ministers during the Cop26 conference has been called off.
Unions suspended the walkout yesterday after the Scottish Government found an extra £30million to appease workers.
Council employees across Scotland had vowed to down tools for a week from Monday, the first full day of the climate summit, over a pay dispute.
The proposed deal will see the lowest-paid receive a 5.9 per cent wage increase worth £1,062, backdated to last April. Those earning more than £25,000 get a rise of 2 per cent, while 1 per cent will go to those on more than £40,000.
Union members will now vote on the offer, which was delivered by Cosla, the local councils umbrella group.
It’s understood that the total cost to the taxpayer will be £48.5million, with town hall coffers topping up the government portion.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: ‘It shouldn’t have taken the threat of global embarrassment for the SNP government to bring a fair deal for workers to the table.
‘They must now reverse the brutal cuts to services that have caused this waste and environmental crisis.’
The deal comes after the Mail revealed that there had been 75,000 cases of illegal rubbish dumping in Scotland last year, with just 64 prosecutions.
First Minister Nicola Sturfurther. geon has faced criticism ahead of the Glasgow summit for the rubbish piling up on the streets of her own constituency in the Govanhill area, while the SNP-led council has been under mounting pressure over the increasingly unkempt state of the city.
A strike by 1,500 local cleansing and refuse workers would have tarnished its image still
The council had previously pleaded with staff not to cause disruption during a ‘busy and difficult time’.
An offer of an £850 pay rise to the lowest earners was put on the table to try to resolve the disagreement.
But the unions stood their ground, demanded £2,000 per worker and took the dispute to the wire.
Last night, Drew Duffy, of GMB Scotland, said: ‘While we are pleased that more money for key workers has been found at the eleventh hour, the fact it’s taken to the brink of the Cop26 summit to get this offer speaks volumes to our members.’
Mark Ferguson, chair of Unison Scotland’s local government committee, added: ‘It has taken ten months and the threat of strike action for Cosla and the Scottish Government to recognise the vital role of local government workers.’
Rail stoppages which would have crippled the network had been planned for during the high-profile summit.
But they were shelved on Wednesday after the RMT union accepted a 2.5 per cent pay deal which included a £300 one-off payment linked to the two-week event.
Travel disruption was also averted when Stagecoach bus workers in West Scotland reached a wage agreement on Monday.
‘Taken to the brink’