Tag: GMB trade union

Edinburgh residents asked to prepare for strike action

The Council has published advice and guidance to help residents manage the impact of planned strike action in the city.

The industrial action by members of the GMB and Unite unions, scheduled to last from tomorrow, 18th –30 August, is expected to cause significant disruption to the city’s waste and cleansing services.

Residents are being asked to check the dedicated pages on the Council’s website and social media channels for advice on how to manage their waste safely and responsibly during the strike.

Regular updates on suspended services and on when collections will restart following the strike will be posted as and when they become available.

It is anticipated that all bin collections and street cleaning will be affected. The city’s three recycling centres will be closed and bulky uplift and flytipping services will also be paused as a result of the action.

Commercial waste services for businesses are not collected by the Council and will continue as normal, as will street cleansing on the High Street and Mound Precinct, which are managed by the Fringe Society.

Council leader Cammy Day said: “It’s now looking increasingly likely that industrial action will go ahead here in Edinburgh and in other cities across the country. Together with my fellow council leaders, I’ll continue to press the Scottish Government to resolve this as quickly as possible.

“I firmly believe that all council colleagues deserve to be paid fairly for the work they do and have every right to take this action and have their voices heard. As the lowest funded council in Scotland, it’s time for the Scottish Government to properly fund our Capital city and its services.

“I fully appreciate the impact this action will have on our city and we’re asking residents to be patient and work with us to help manage the inevitable impacts by planning ahead and following our advice.

“We’ve published tips on what to do with their waste and recycling and how they can help us to keep the city as clean as possible during and after the strike.

“We’re also reaching out to our tenants and housing associations, businesses, festivals and other partners asking them to share our messaging and provide whatever support they can during this busy and important time for our Capital city.

“We’re developing a detailed recovery plan so clean ups can begin and services can resume as quickly as possible after the strike.

“Please continue to check our website and social media channels for updates.”

NOTE: The pictures above were taken earlier this week – i.e. BEFORE the strike starts

‘Back of the queue’ home carers launch ballot for immediate COVID-19 test at work

Home carers in Glasgow’s Health & Social Care Partnership (HSCP) will launch a consultative ballot today to demand immediate workplace testing for COVID-19 amid anger at being “put to the back of queue” in the Scottish Government’s roll-out programme.

The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Friday 23rd October that priority testing would be extended to home care workers, only for the Health Secretary Jeane Freeman to announce on Wednesday 25th November that testing would be rolled-out for home care from mid-January.

Since then, under government instruction temporary testing centres have been set-up by Glasgow City Council in Dalmarnock and Pollokshields, students have been offered tests to return home for Christmas, and pilot projects have been launched to test care home visitors.

The ballot, where over 1,400 GMB members will be asked if they are prepared to take industrial action to secure immediate and regular testing at work for COVID-19, will run until 12.00 hours, Thursday 17th December.

Rhea Wolfson of the GMB Scotland Women’s Campaign Unit said: “There is no excuse for leaving home carers waiting until next year for COVID-19 testing at work. The First Minister said home carers would get priority testing, but this isn’t what a priority looks like, this is how it feels to be put to the back of the queue.

“If testing centres can be set-up in high risk communities within a matter of days, and if students can get a test to return home to their families for Christmas, then why are home carers, who will work in these communities throughout the festive period, being left to wait?

“We’ve asked the council to intervene, the council say they are waiting on more guidance from government, but there is no trust left in the government’s promises and timelines. From PPE to testing these workers have been consistently failed over the last ten months.

“Our members believe the only people who will stand-up for their safety and value are themselves, campaigning together under the banner of their trade union, and they have been left with no choice but to ballot.”

UPDATE: Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has responded: ‘Unpaid carers will be vaccinated in Scotland. They will be alongside the group with underlying health conditions. We can’t give a definite date for this important group of people because exact dates depend on supplies of vaccine arriving.‘

Up to 1,000 Swissport jobs at risk following Flybe collapse

GMB, the aviation union, says up to 1,000 Swissport jobs are now at risk – many of which could be saved if other airlines take on regional routes operated by collapsed airline Flybe.

The baggage handling and ground crew jobs are under threat at Birmingham, East Midlands, Cardiff, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Manchester airports following the collapse of Flybe.

Shadow transport minister Karl Turner this week called on the Government to offer assistance not just to Flybe staff, but all plans to the end must be extended to those not employed by Flybe but are nonetheless affected.

Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, said: “Up to 1,000 Swissport jobs are now at risk from Flybe’s collapse – that’s on top of thousands more directly employed and in the wider supply chain.

“But many of these can be saved it airlines who’ve shown interest in taking on regional routes put their money where their mouth is, get on and do it.

“The Government needs to do everything in its power to make the transfer of routes and the saving of jobs as easy and painless as possible.”

Healthcare in Crisis: Four Seasons goes into administration

Four Seasons Health Care, one of the country’s biggest heath care organisations, has gone into administration.  The company, which has been struggling to tackle massive debt, says the move would not affect care arrangements or lead to the closure of homes.

Four Seasons employs around 20,000 staff who support approximately 17,000 patients and care home residents. It runs three care homes in Edinburgh: Gilmerton (above), North Merchiston and Guthrie House.

Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs MSP said: “Residents in the five Edinburgh care homes and their families will be very concerned about Four Seasons going into administration and what this presents for the future provision of the care homes.

“This is yet another example of the care crisis engulfing Edinburgh. We need to see urgent steps taken to stabilise the situation and support find a future for the company.

“It is crucial that the Scottish Government ensures operations at these care homes continue.”

Responding to the announcement, GMB Scotland Senior Organiser Drew Duffy said: “This is yet another case in point of the crisis in our care sector.

“Our immediate priority is the safeguard of our members’ jobs and conditions across Four Seasons homes in Scotland and to help tackle any uncertainty for an estimated 1,800 service users and their families.

“That’s why we have asked for an urgent meeting with the Scottish Government and COSLA representatives. We will also continue to work with our union across the rest of the UK and in our engagements with the employer, administrators and the UK Government.

“Four Seasons is just the tip of the iceberg and there is a far wider debate that needs to be had about the sustainability of our care sector in its present form.

“Let’s be clear that the public purse is largely funding these failing providers and the financiers behind them, while the rights of workers at the coal face, mainly low paid women, are constantly under attack. This is a toxic mix for staff and service users alike.

“If we leave this unchallenged then we will only continue to revisit the problems we are facing today in Four Seasons elsewhere in the sector. This must stop and the sector must change.”