Scottish ministers urged to act as strike planned by council waste workers

Scottish Government ministers are facing demands to hold emergency talks in a bid to prevent a strike by council refuse workers across the country.

With three unions having announced co-ordinated action for August, the Tories called on Holyrood ministers to convene a meeting with local authority leaders and unions.

The planned eight-day walkout, involving workers in the Unison, Unite and GMB unions, will mean bins are not emptied “from the smallest villages to the biggest cities” across the country.

Unison, the largest local government union, confirmed staff in 13 council areas will take part in the action from 5am on Wednesday August 14 to 4.59am on Thursday August 22, while GMB and Unite members in 18 areas will walk out.

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Edinburgh City Council workers will be among those to strike, which will take place during the Scottish capital’s busy summer festival period.

Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, will also be affected by the action.

It comes amid a dispute over pay, with all three unions having previously rejected a 3.2% rise offered by local government body Cosla – which insists it has “very limited options available”.

Although talks between Cosla leaders, unions and Scottish Finance Secretary Shona Robison took place on Tuesday, no agreement was reached.

A similar dispute, which saw rubbish pile up on the streets of Edinburgh during the festival season in 2022, only ended when the Scottish Government provided extra funds to councils for workers’ pay.

Cosla resources spokesperson Katie Hagmann insisted local government leaders will “explore all options to avoid industrial action”.

The Conservatives have now called on the Scottish Government to intervene, with Lothian MSP Miles Briggs saying: “We simply cannot allow rubbish to pile high in the streets of Scotland again.

“This strike action is set to take place in the middle of the Edinburgh festivals, at a time the capital is welcoming the world to our beautiful city.

“In 2022 we saw the level of disruption that these strikes caused, with rubbish strewn across our streets.

“The strikes would also cause significant public health concerns, with rubbish not being removed.

“SNP ministers must call an emergency meeting with Cosla and the unions to intervene and prevent the strike from happening.”

Cammy Day, the leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, called on all parties to try to resolve the dispute.

Mr Day said: “I urge the Scottish Government and Cosla to stay round the table with the unions and find a way of averting what will be a hugely damaging dispute for Edinburgh – and for Scotland as a whole.”

GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said the 3.2% offer failed to keep pace with the cost of living and was below the rise offered to council workers in England.

He added: “Industrial action will start in two weeks unless ministers and local authorities urgently identify the money needed to make a fair and acceptable offer.

“These strikes will be disruptive to all the Scots who rely on our members’ work, but would not be necessary if councils had shown a greater urgency and sense of realism.”

Collette Hunter, Unison Scotland’s local government chairwoman, said: “Cosla and the Scottish Government must understand the anger among council staff. They are resolute and strikes will go ahead unless a solution can be found.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said its members will strike “unless there is a new, credible pay offer put on the table”.

Graham McNab, industrial officer with the union, added a “significant shift” to the pay offer will be required to prevent industrial action.

He said: “Strike action is not yet inevitable but action from the politicians must be imminent.

“There is a window of opportunity to resolve this dispute but the politicians should be under no illusions that our members will take strike action if necessary to secure the pay offer which they deserve.”

Ms Hagmann said Tuesday’s talks had given Cosla the chance to “articulate the financial challenges facing local government in relation to meeting pay claims”.

She added: “It was an open and honest dialogue about how challenging the situation is in relation to council finances.

“Whilst no immediate solution was identified, officers will now undertake further work at pace in the coming days to explore all options to avoid industrial action.”

She stressed to the Finance Secretary “the very limited options available to local government, and that any solution needs to be both affordable and sustainable”.

Ms Hagmann continued: “Cosla remains committed to continuing our negotiations towards finding a solution as quickly as possible, seeking to do all we can to avoid industrial action and its damaging impact on our communities.

“Council leaders value the local government workforce and their essential work across our communities, they recognise the workforce pressures and the need to reward equitably.”

Speaking after the talks on Tuesday evening, Ms Robison said her officials will now “work at pace with local government officers to understand what an improved negotiating envelope may look like”.