Strike hits Scottish waste collections

Industrial action is being taken by members of the Unite, Unison and GMB unions, after they refused to accept a nationwide pay offer of 2.5%-a-year wage increases over the next three years.

As a result, unionised staff in all areas of local government in Scotland, with the exception of those working in emergency situations, are on strike, with waste and recycling collection workers among those involved.

And, this has led to waste and recycling collections in almost all of Scotland's 32 councils being disrupted, with local authorities postponing collections until later this week or cancelling them altogether, meaning residents' next collections won't take place until next week.

Closed

Scotland's major urban centres, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, have all been hit, while a number of local authority civic amenity sites have also been closed.

Alex Luckie, GMB Scotland's senior organiser for local government, explained the reasons for the strike action, which has also badly affected other council services such as schools, housing and residential care.

“No one can be surprised that workers who are being offered 2.5% in today's inflationary environment are taking strike action in order to make clear to their employer that they will not tolerate a pay cut,” he said.

Jim Farrelly, Unite regional officer, added: “Unite believes that the public will be sympathetic to our members' plight, which is born out of a sense of anger and frustration.”

Talks

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) has been involved in talks to attempt to resolve the dispute, and its spokesman for the Scottish Employers, councillor Michael Cook, said: “We are extremely disappointed given the effect this strike will have on the services councils deliver to our local communities.”

And, with regards to resolving the problem, he said: “The issues are difficult and complex and need to be carefully thought through.

“However, as soon as possible we will arrange talks with the trade unions in a bid to reach a settlement which takes account of the soaring cost of living which affects councils just as much as our workers,” he added.

Issues

The decision to go ahead with the strike could lead to concerns over Scottish councils facing similar problems to those experienced by their English counterparts in the wake of industrial action held in England last month, on July 16 and 17.

Following that two-day strike by local authority workers, local media reports detailed anger among residents in several councils over having to wait for two weeks or more for collections to take place due to the effect of the strike action.

And, the situation culminated in reports that, last week, residents of a street in Huddersfield blocked the path of a refuse collection vehicle until refuse collectors took all the waste on the street, and not just that in bins, that had been left during and since the strike.