BIN STRIKES ARE BACK ON
With city overrun by rats and rubbish before eyes of the world, union rejects 11th-hour pay deal
A STRIKE by Glasgow binmen during the first week of the Cop26 climate conference is set to go ahead after an ‘11th-hour’ deal was rejected.
GMB union chiefs last night said the action would begin at 00.01 hours today, claiming Glasgow City Council had failed to give members ‘time and space’ to consider the offer from Cosla.
On Friday, the local councils umbrella body proposed a 5.9 per cent wage increase worth £1,062, backdated to last April, for the lowest-paid workers.
This would also have seen those currently earning more than £25,000 receiving a pay rise of 2 per cent, while those on more than £40,000 would have received a 1 per cent increase.
It is understood that the total cost to the taxpayer would have been £48.5million, including £18.5million from the local authority’s budget.
Plans for industrial action were suspended last week, with union chiefs saying they would consult members about the offer.
Glasgow City Council previously urged the workers to avoid causing disruption in the ‘busy and difficult time’ during Cop26.
But GMB chiefs said that there was too much ‘bad faith’ and a strike would go ahead.
GMB Scotland secretary Louise
Gilmour said: ‘The council has failed to give our members the proper time and space to consider the 11th-hour offer from Cosla, and the fact that the council moved to block strike action in the Court of Session using anti-trade union legislation means there is too much bad faith among members towards the employer.
‘Therefore, our members in cleansing have informed us that they will still proceed with the planned strike action from 00.01 hours on Monday, November 1.
‘We are calling for an urgent meeting with the council as soon as possible and we will work until one minute to midnight tonight to try to fix this.
‘We have also made the Scottish Government aware of the situation and are liaising with the First Minister’s office, but without any further dialogue the cleansing service in Glasgow City Council will take strike action from tomorrow and throughout the first full week of the Cop26 summit.’
Cleansing workers had threatened to strike in a row about pay and working conditions. A problem with rats in the city also became a flashpoint after SNP council leader Susan Aitken tried to downplay the issue, despite reports of refuse workers being bitten by the vermin.
The decision to strike came days after a pay deal was struck with rail union RMT to prevent strikes across the ScotRail network during the Cop26 summit.
Meanwhile, a strike among more than half of local authority workers was also shelved after the Joint Trade Unions accepted an offer from Cosla. School cleaners, cooks and janitors, as well as refuse and recycling workers, were planning strike action, raising fears that schools could be closed. But on Friday, members of the Unison and Unite unions accepted the pay offer put forward by Cosla and since rejected by the GMB union.
Gail Macgregor, resources spokesman for Cosla, said: ‘On putting our new and improved offer to our trade union colleagues on Friday, we were pleased to note that it was accepted, with the expectation that strike action would be suspended whilst they presented the new offer to their membership for consideration.
‘GMB in particular made a public statement that they were suspending strike action for a period of two weeks as of Friday whilst the ballot of their members was conducted nationally.
‘We very much hope that this remains the case and that all members are given the opportunity to participate whilst essential services are maintained.’
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: ‘The agreement struck at national level gave two weeks to consider the pay offer and so there is no reason for this strike to go ahead at this time.
‘It is very disappointing the GMB has opted for this course of action. We will meet with the GMB at any time to try to resolve what now appears to be a local dispute.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We urge all parties in Glasgow to find a resolution.’
‘There is too much bad faith’