SATURDAY 14th SEPTEMBER from 10am – 1pm
at AUGUSTINE UNITED CHURCH, GEORGE IV BRIDGE
For further information contact:
EDINBURGH TUC – telephone 0773 491 2536
or email edinburghtradeunioncouncil@gmail.com
Council leaders reconvened from recess yesterday (24th July) for a special meeting to discuss the ongoing pay negotiations with Scottish Joint Council (SJC) Unions.
COSLA Resources Spokesperson, Councillor Katie Hagmann, commented following the meeting: “We are disappointed that the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) Trade Unions have chosen to reject the revised pay offer made on 18th July.
“We have been consistently clear that this offer of 3.2% over 12 months is at the absolute limit of affordability for councils, given the extremely challenging financial situation Local Government is facing. We believe this offer, which is above inflation, is fair, strong and credible. There is no more money available within existing council budgets to fund an increased offer without unacceptable and damaging cuts to jobs and services.
“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.
“In response to calls from Trade Unions, COSLA Leaders agreed today (24th July) to raise the matter of local government finance and local government pay with the Scottish Government. As no decisions can be taken until these discussions have taken place, we request that the trade unions pause their industrial action.
“COSLA are in the process of contacting the Trade Unions and Scottish Government on this. Council Leaders value the Local Government workforce and their essential work across our communities and remain committed to reaching an agreeable solution as quickly as possible.”
Unite has confirmed today that its Edinburgh Trams membership are being balloted on strike action over late running times to the nation’s largest airport which is preventing workers from taking comfort breaks.
The strike ballot opens on 29 July and closes on 12 August.
In a consultative ballot previously conducted by Unite, over 160 tram workers indicated by 99 per cent that they are prepared to take industrial action on an 84 per cent turnout.
Unite claims there is a shortfall of between 5 – 6 minutes in the running time from Edinburgh Airport to Newhaven. Each round trip takes on average 2 hours to complete.
The maximum driving time before a scheduled break is 5 hours, and many tram workers go this length of time without hydration or toilet breaks. This is due to running late and having to make up the time.
The unacceptable situation has contributed to health issues developing among Unite’s membership including stress and infections.
The trade union represents drivers, ticket service assistants, controllers and vehicle maintenance workers.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s Edinburgh tram workers are facing an unacceptable health and safety situation due to the pressures of having to get the travelling public to Edinburgh airport. We will back our tram membership all the way in the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”
A new tram timetable has added 4 minutes to each run, and delays to a new signalling system have contributed to increased delays.
It has further been reported to Unite that some trams regularly run up to 30 minutes late with control having to turn trams around mid-route. This situation completely removes the ability for tram workers to go to the toilet.
Lyn Turner, Unite industrial officer, added: “Edinburgh’s tram workers are emphatically saying give us our breaks.
“The sustained pressure being put on our members to complete the airport to Newhaven round trip is resulting in an alarming rise in incidents at work including stress and infections.
“The situation has arisen due to delays in the new signalling system and changes in the new timetable which were not properly tested before going into passenger service. Action needs to happen quickly or strike action will be inevitable.”
Unite has confirmed that its committee for local government workers has rejected the latest COSLA pay offer following a meeting in Glasgow yesterday (22 July 2024).
Unite said no ‘extra cash’ has been added to the new pay offer by COSLA, which amounts to a 3.2 per cent increase for a one-year period between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. COSLA has taken two months to shift from its previous offer, which was also rejected outright by Unite on 24 May.
Unite is highlighting that the new pay offer ‘grossly undervalues’ Scottish council workers in contrast with the offer made to UK counterparts.
An offer of £1,290 has been made to council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the National Joint Council (NJC). This equates to a rise of 67p per hour or 5.2% for a council worker earning around £25,000 based on a 37-hour week. In contrast, the COSLA offer of 3.2% equates to £800 or a 41p per hour increase.
The pay offer difference means that a Scottish council worker would need to earn above £40,000 to match the offer being made to council workers across the UK. This means the lowest paid council workers are being disproportionately hit by COSLA’s offer.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “COSLA has taken months to put a new offer to our local government membership, and it’s one that does absolutely nothing to address more than a decade of deep cuts to pay and services.
“Unless COSLA and the Scottish government move quickly to make an acceptable offer then mountains of rubbish will pile up across the nation’s streets. The politicians have a choice, and one more chance, to resolve this pay dispute before strike action.”
Unite has the largest union membership on the verge of participating in a first wave of strike action involving waste workers, street cleaners, and recycling centre operators.
The union has strike action mandates involving thousands of its members across 16 councils, and it is in the process of re-balloting workers in 5 other councils (see notes to editor).
Graham McNab, Unite industrial officer, added: “COSLA’s latest pay offer doesn’t add any extra cash. It continues to grossly undervalue Scotland’s council workers compared with the offer made to their counterparts across the UK.
“A stinking Scottish summer looms unless COSLA and the Scottish government quickly sort this out by injecting more cash into a new offer. Any offer will need to value the lowest paid council workers, at least, on similar terms as the offer made to other UK council workers.”
“The Scottish government can no longer sit idly by, we are on the brink of nationwide strike action which could last for months.”
LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNIONS SET FOR SUMMER STRIKE ACTION
COSLA wrote to the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) Trade Unions with a formal pay offer for Scotland’s Local Authority workforce on Thursday – but their ‘strong, fair and credible’ offer has been firmly rebuffed by trade unions representing council workers.
Making the formal offer, COSLA said in a statement: “Following a number of very constructive SJC Steering Group negotiating meetings in recent weeks, COSLA has today (23rd May) written to the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) Trade Unions with a formal pay offer for the SJC Local Government workforce. “
This offer is for a settlement which runs for an 18-month period of 1st April 2024 to 30th September 2025. There will be a 2.2% uplift from 1st April, with a further 2% uplift taking effect from 1 October. This therefore includes a change in the settlement date to 1 October.
“This offer fully utilises the negotiating mandate provided by COSLA Leaders and is at the limit of affordability, given the severe financial constraints councils are facing in the context of a flat cash Local Government settlement.
“We believe that this is a strong, fair, and credible offer which reflects the high value council Leaders place on the Local Government workforce and the invaluable work they do every day to serve our communities.”
The May 2024 pay offer to SJC Unions explained
COSLA’s offer to SJC Trade Unions on 23rd May 2024 is detailed in the bullet points below:
A 2.2% increase from 1 April 2024
Further 2% increase from 1 October 2024
Change settlement date to 1 October
Agree to develop negotiation protocol
This offer covers 1 April 2024 – 30 September 2025.
A STRONG, FAIR and CREDIBLE OFFER? NO, SAY UNIONS …
Union now moving “full steam ahead” for Summer strike action
Unite the union has confirmed that its representative committee for local government workers have rejected outright the COSLA pay offer.
The offer comprises 2.2 per cent effective from 1 April to 30 September, and then two per cent for a 12-month period effective from 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025.
Unite rejected the offer, and the proposal to change the pay anniversary date from April to October on the basis that it is nothing but an attempt to “kick the can down the road”.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “COSLA has taken months to put a formal pay offer to our local government membership, and it’s a derisory one at that.”
“Unite’s representatives rightly rejected this offer outright. The fight for better jobs, pay and conditions in local government will continue. We are clear that our members shouldn’t settle for anything that doesn’t come close to meeting their demands.”
Unite has confirmed that it is actively preparing to ballot key groups of its local government membership across Scotland.
Unite will announce the details of the industrial action ballot next week as it issued a warning to COSLA and the Scottish government that the union is moving “full steam ahead” towards industrial action this summer period.
Graham McNab, Unite industrial officer, added: “The pay offer doesn’t come close to meeting the aspirations of our members in local government. Unite also opposes the pay anniversary date being moved to October as nothing but a cynical attempt to kick the can down the road.”
“Politicians pretend the cost of living crisis has gone away but that just isn’t the reality for the vast majority of workers in local government who have endured years of low pay, chronic underfunding and record rates of inflation”.
“Unite is moving full steam ahead towards industrial action this summer unless COSLA makes a significantly improved pay offer.”
Local government staff in Scotland are worth more than the pay increase they’ve been offered, UNISON said on Thursday.
The union is to consult thousands of council workers across Scotland over a pay offer which was made on Thursday, with a recommendation they vote to reject it.
UNISON is calling for an improvement to pay that fairly rewards council staff for the essential services they provide and starts to reverse years of pay cuts they have experienced.
Employer organisation Cosla has made a two-stage offer which runs for 18 months, which gives a 2.2% increase for the first six months and an additional 2% for a further 12 months of the deal, ending in September next year.
Chair of UNISON Scotland’s local government committee, Colette Hunter said: “The offer falls short of the level local government workers deserve and the union is recommending staff vote to reject it when they are consulted next week.
“Workers have seen the value of their pay fall over the past ten years, while often being asked to do even more. They provide vital services to their communities by caring for the most vulnerable, educating children, waste and recycling, and keeping people safe. Council workers need a pay rise that reflects this.”
GMB Scotland has also rejected Cosla’s pay offer to council workers.
The union, one of the biggest in Scotland’s public sector, branded the offer too late and too low, and warned of looming industrial action.
GMB’s 20,000 members in Scots councils have already voted overwhelmingly in a consultative ballot to back industrial action if there was no acceptable offer and a formal ballot of care workers is already underway with more planned.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser in public services, confirmed the union’s local government committee rejected the offer at a meeting this afternoon.
He said: “The offer to Scotland’s council workers is too late and too low. The delay was unacceptable and the offer is unacceptable.
“It means council workers in Scotland being offered less than colleagues in England and Wales and it raises grave concerns about councils’ promise to pay all workers £15 an hour by 2026.
“This offer comes nowhere close to matching that commitment.
“We do not need any more empty promises and excuses. We need a pay offer that fairly reflects the crucial work being done by our members in local authorities delivering the frontline services that Scotland is built on.
“Inflation might be slowing but bills continue to rise and workers and their families are still being crushed by the cost of living.
“Our members in social care are among the lowest paid council workers delivering some of the most important frontline services.
“They deserve better than this. So do their colleagues and so does every Scot relying on them to deliver the services Scotland is built on.”
UNISON Scotland has called for a above-inflation pay increase for local government workers as it submitted its 2024/25 joint pay claim.
The unions – UNISON and Unite – submitted the claim earlier this year, although COSLA leaders are unlikely to respond before their budget allocations are finalised. UNISON has made it clear we want a deal agreed as close to the April 1, 2024 implementation date as possible.
Local government workers are continuing to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis and UNISON has warned there is a real risk that workers will find better-paid, less-stressful work elsewhere if their pay continues to lose its value.
UNISON says that an above-inflation pay increase is the only way to maintain the staff levels necessary to deliver services to the public, looking after the most vulnerable, giving children the education they need and keeping neighbourhoods safe.
The key elements of UNISON’s claim are:
You can read the claim in full here.
Lilian Macer, UNISON’s Scottish Secretary, said: “An above-inflation wage rise is the only way to maintain the staff levels necessary to deliver services to the public. Unless councils and schools can pay competitive rates, employees will find better-paid, less-stressful work elsewhere and new recruits will be thin on the ground.
“Our members tell us how every day how they are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and how they are struggling to make ends meet. Local government workers must be properly rewarded for the vital services they provide.
UNISON have signed a joint letter with Cosla and other unions to the Deputy First Minister, Shona Robison MSP, saying it is clear to both employers and unions “that funding levels for councils have not kept pace with increased demand for services.”
They say “Local Government is facing a cut in real terms to both core revenue and capital budgets. As a proportion of funding allocated to the Scottish Budget, the percentage for local government has declined.”
And that “this is impacted by both the growing need of services due to demographic pressures and the ongoing cost of living crisis.”
It is in everyone’s interest to achieve a sustainable settlement on pay at the earliest opportunity.
The letter states: “Scottish Local Government settlements must be sustainable alongside the significant budget challenges facing councils and it is vital that the approach to our workforce is fair, acknowledging the essential front-line services that are delivered every day.”
Following the shambles of this year’s City of Edinburgh Council budget in which full council voted for a budget including privatisation and compulsory redundancies, Edinburgh’s trade unions have joined together to demand better for the workforce and the community.
GMB, Unison, and Unite represent the majority of workers employed across the council including front line services such as waste, care, parks and roads, and non-teaching staff in schools.
The joint trade unions welcome the council leader’s assurances he has no intention of implementing the budget in full, but this is not enough and are further calling on City of Edinburgh Council to give their workforce security by re-setting a budget which takes compulsory redundancies and privatisation off the cards completely.
The joint trade unions are asking the public to stand by the council workforce, by signing the public petition and writing to their local councillors: https://edcouncilpledge.carrd.co/
GMB Organiser Kirsten Muat Said: “Scotland’s council’s have been underfunded for decades, but it is unacceptable of the council to ask front line workers to bear the brunt of the lack of political leadership on this issue.
“The workforce need to be given job security, the only way this can happen is by political leaders putting their words into action and putting a complete to stop to any privatisation or compulsory redundancies.
“Privatization and redundancies will never be in the public interest, it would be wrong and short sighted for City of Edinburgh Council to pursue this.”
UNISON Branch Secretary Tom Connolly said: “We want all Edinburgh Councillors to not only adopt the trade union pledge, but we also want them to publicly endorse their commitment and outline how they will ensure our pledges are delivered.
“The public have a massive role to play here too. You can help save our services by using our campaign tools to write to your elected officials and put pressure on them to deliver.
“The Edinburgh Council unions have continually warned over many years about the devastating impact of cuts to council budgets and the threat to democratic accountability.
But under the Tory Government at Westminster and the SNP/Green Government in Scotland, local government is under pressure as never before. For years now, council workers have continuously been asked to do more with less and deliver more for less. With the current council budget, that trend will continue, and things will continue to get worse.”
Unite branch secretary Brian Robertson said: “The council needs to provide security to its workers as insecurity for the workers not only causes stress to them and their families but also puts stress on the services they deliver.
“Best Value reviews must examine in-house service delivery as a serious option. Improving Services, Creating Jobs is the Best Value our council can give to our workers, citizens, families and communities. Doing otherwise is a dis-service to our city.”
Campaign Resources:
Joint Edinburgh Unions Shared Webpage: https://edcouncilpledge.carrd.co/
Sign the petition – Edinburgh City Council: Pledge for Public Services | Megaphone UK
Send a letter to your local Councillor and demand that they sign the union pledge – https://action.unison.org.uk/page/125663/action/1
UNISON, and sister trade unions Unite and GMB, are threatening pull out local government school staff and refuse workers on strike again.
Strike action was suspended after UNISON members voted for an offer which was made to them by COSLA on 2nd September 2022.
Trade union strikes remain suspended but mandates remain live meaning UNISON can legally call their local government members back out on strike, again.
COSLA now claim that the elements of the original deal – an extra days leave and the payment of SSSC registration fees for those working in social work, social care and early years – were only for one year not in perpetuity.
UNISON have now written to COSLA to say: “It is frankly outrageous that the draft pay circular sent to us on 7th October sought to time limit elements of the offer that had no time limitation on them in the original offer letter or in the discussions we had prior to it.
“That this remains unresolved should be a source of deep embarrassment. As has previously been advised our strike mandates remain live and we are all under increasing pressure from members, who are rapidly losing faith in their employer, to lift the strike suspensions if a resolution is not achieved quickly.”
Council staff are still waiting for their increased pay uplifts to be included in their pay packets.
Johanna Baxter, UNISON Scotland head of local government said: “This is appalling behaviour – either the employer did not even understand the offer they themselves were making – or they did and are now trying to renegue on it before its even been implemented. Either way it will be our members that suffer if they are allowed to get away with it.
“We have made clear to the employer and the Scottish Government that our strike mandates remain live and all three trade unions are under increasing pressure from members, who are rapidly losing faith in their employer, to lift the strike suspensions if a resolution and call members out if a resolution is not achieved quickly.
“Our members will rightly be questioning the value of COSLA if they cannot be trusted to draft an offer that they understand or uphold one that they do understand.
“It should be a source of deep embarrassment to COSLA that more than six months since the pay implementation date and in the middle of the worst cost of living crises our country has seen, waiting on their pay rise”
GMB Scotland, Unison and Unite trade unions have suspended next week’s strikes after receiving an improved pay offer from local government umbrella organisation Cosla.
The unions are recommending their members accept the new deal.
Responding to the revised offer for local government pay, and following a meeting of GMB Scotland’s local government committee, GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Keir Greenaway said: “GMB has been very clear that more must be done for the lowest paid in local government and this latest offer delivers a significant amount of consolidated money for these workers, including the frontline refuse and schools’ staff that everyone depends on.
“It’s not a perfect offer but it is the view of GMB Scotland’s local government committee that it’s worthy of members consultation and their acceptance, but ultimately our members whose campaigning and strike actions have improved these terms will have the final say.
“In the meantime, we have agreed to suspend all planned strike action so this consultation process can take place and our GMB organisers and workplace reps will be visiting as many workplaces as possible to engage our members on this.
“Most importantly, we want to pay tribute to our members. Strike action is not easy, it requires sacrifice and solidarity to deliver outcomes that make work better, and they have fought long and hard for an improved offer to help confront this cost-of-living crisis.”
After days of intense negotiations with the First Minster, the Deputy First Minister, Scottish Government and COSLA. UNISON has now secured an improved offer from COSLA that they will put to their members with a recommendation to accept.
The offer consists of:
• An increase of £2000 for those earning up to £20,500
• An increase of £1925 for those earning between £20,500 to £39,000
• A 5% increase for those earning between £39,000 to £60,000
• A maximum increase of £3k for those earning above £60,000
• The removal of SSSC fees where application (social care registration fees)
• 1 extra days annual leave
• All increases based on a 36hr week calculator
Three UNISON sticking points were overcome late last night with the First Minister. The first is that the pay envelope has been increased to £600m, second that the pay increases will be fully consolidated from the date of implementation and the calculations will be based on 36-hour week (rather 37hr wk).
In March council workers were offered a paltry 2%. In July they were offered 3.5%. And now, through the strength of UNISON’s collective industrial muscle and members willingness to stand up to their employers we have now achieved a total increase to the pay bill of 7.5%, with 8 in 10 UNISON workers getting increases of between 5 – 10 %.
Johanna Baxter, UNISON head of local government said: “This offer is a victory for UNISON members. It has taken 8 months and the industrial might of UNISON members in schools and early years and waste and recycling workers to drag £600m out of Scottish government and COSLA and into the pockets hardworking people.
“COSLA originally offered 2%, then 3.5%, then 5% – we now we have £600m on the table, which is a 7.5% increase to the total pay bill and 87% of our council workers will receive fully consolidated increases between 5% to 10%.
“UNISON want to get this money into the pockets of council workers now while we continue the campaign to support people through the cost of living crisis,
“It is only through the collective action of our members in school and early years staff threatening strike action and our waste and recycling workers taking action that we have forced these extra funds out of government and the employer.
“Our member’s message was clear and unequivocal – UNISON’s local government members are no longer prepared to be treated as the poor relations of the public sector. They will stand up, speak up and organise to win change together. There is always more to do but this is a welcome step in the right direction.”
Mark Ferguson, chair of UNISON Scotland local government committee said: “Do not underestimate the scale of the achievement for UNISON members. We have won significant increases from where we started 8 month ago. We have had to drag the employer to the table to even talk to us.
“This will go someway to help them through the cost of living crisis but by no means is the fight over. UNISON will now continue its campaign to improve pay and conditions for all workers in local government.”
Unite the union can confirm that following talks involving the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, COSLA and the trade unions, a new ‘credible’ pay offer has been formally put on the table.
Unite can confirm that the substance of the new offer has led to a recommendation by its local government committee to accept.
Strikes scheduled to take place in waste and education services from 6 to 13 September are now suspended. Unite will hold a consultative ballot of its local government membership on the offer which it aims to complete by 22 September.
Unite can confirm a flat rate fully consolidated offer of £2,000 for those earning up to £20,500. This is the equivalent to an increase of around 10 – 11 per cent for the lowest paid who are estimated to be around 18 per cent of the total workforce. The offer is consolidated into overtime, allowances and pensions.
It further includes a £1,925 flat rate offer which is fully consolidated for those earning between £20,500 and up to £39,000. This is the equivalent to an increase of 8 per cent for those earning around £24,000. The offer would also be backdated to April.
Unite estimates that trade union negotiators have been able to secure around an extra £460m for local government since the dispute in waste services began in Edinburgh on 18 August.
Wendy Dunsmore, Unite’s lead negotiator for local government, welcomed the new offer, she said: “After the latest round of intensive talks a new credible offer has finally been put on the table by COSLA. Unite wants to acknowledge the First Minister’s direct involvement as a primary reason for the breakthrough.
“The offer on the table is fully consolidated and as such there will be more cash in the pot going forward for local government workers. It provides a degree of security for the lowest paid with a flat rate offer of £2000 which is an uplift worth around 10-11 per cent.
“We now have a credible offer which our local government representatives can recommend to the membership for acceptance.”
It is reported that more than half of Scotland’s 250,000 council workers are earning less than £25,000 a year for a 37-hour week.
COSLA has said it was delighted to get to a point in this year’s pay negotiations whereby a fresh pay offer has been put to the Trade Unions.
Commenting yesterday [Friday 2nd September 2022] following a meeting of Council Leaders, Councillor Katie Hagmann, COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson, said: “Firstly I would like to thank all our Trade Union colleagues for the constructive discussions.
“The revised offer made shows that Scotland’s Council Leaders have listened to the concerns of our workforce and have responded positively.
“Council Leaders have said consistently throughout these negotiations that we very much value and are grateful to the Local Government Workforce.
“We have sent letters to our union colleagues following today’s meeting and hope that this enables strike action to be suspended and allows our workforce to get back to doing what they do best, delivering high quality essential services for the people within our communities right across Scotland.”
Commenting on the new pay offer for local government workers from COSLA, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: “Unions work. This offer could not have been possible without the solidarity of our collective movement. As it should be, it’s now up to the members whether to accept this proposal.
“We’re facing the gravest cost of living emergency seen for generations. When there is the political will to do so, instigated by Scotland’s workers and with the assistance of political leaders, the Scottish Government can indeed intervene to help those most in need.
“Other workers across public services will welcome this precedent as they too seek pay justice in the face of the cost-of-living crisis. We intended to make this loud and clear at our cost of living pay march outside the Scottish Parliament this Thursday, September 8th.”
The City of Edinburgh Council has updated its advice to residents following this afternoon’s announcement that industrial action is to be paused.
Strike action was due to restart in Edinburgh on Tuesday but, following the latest offer from COSLA, Unite and GMB trade unions have agreed to suspend the action while they conduct a consultative ballot of their members.
The Council has updated its recovery plan to take account of this and residents are being advised that kerbside collections (grey and green wheelie bins, plus food waste) will resume as normal from next week.
This excludes garden waste and blue box glass collections, which will restart from 13 September. As previously communicated, garden waste customers will be compensated for any missed collections resulting from strike action.
Any residents who were due a collection on Thursday 1 or Friday 2 September whose bins haven’t yet been emptied are being advised to leave them out for collection – they’ll be emptied as soon as possible.
Street cleaning teams, meanwhile, continue to make good progress with the city-wide clean-up, focusing their efforts on high-footfall areas and working closely with waste collection teams to clear excess litter around bins.
Full details of the recovery plan and the latest guidance have been published on the Council website: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/binstrike
Council Leader Cammy Day said: “Clearly, I’m pleased that next week’s strike action has been suspended while union members consider this latest offer – and I’m cautiously optimistic that they’ll follow their unions’ recommendation and accept.
“This dispute has already dragged on way too long and the Scottish Government and COSLA leadership would do well to reflect on this going forward.
“I know this will come as a relief to residents and businesses across Edinburgh who’ve had to endure a difficult few weeks for our Capital city – but I hope, like me, they’ll agree it’s been worth it to secure a fair deal for our hard working colleagues.
(NOTE – Cammy Day voted to offer those ‘hard working colleagues’ just 3.5%!)
“Our teams have put in an incredible shift since returning to work on Tuesday – collecting an eye-watering 3,500 tonnes of waste in the process and underlining their immense value to our city and its reputation.
“The clean-up will continue in the coming days and most kerbside collections will resume as normal from next Tuesday. Unfortunately, for this to happen, we do still need to divert some resources away from garden waste and glass collections, but I’m pleased they’ll be able to resume from the following week.
“I appreciate that this has been, and continues to be, an extremely challenging period for us all and I would like to thank our residents, businesses and visitors for their continued patience and understanding.”
TALKS to resolve the local government workers strike ended without an agreement being reached yesterday.
Unions had sought clarity over a 5% offer tabled at a meeting with local government organisation Cosla but the employers were unable to give sufficient reassurances to enable unions to call off planned strikes across the country.
This means the ongoing strike in Edinburgh will continue, with other council areas also being hit by industrial action for the first time today.
Edinburgh North and Leith SNP MP Deirdre Brock said the capital’s Labour-run council had failed to put forward a decent pay offer.
Edinburgh council’s Labour leader Cammy Day was criticised last week for offering just 3.5% to council workers while other council leaders were pushing for a 5% pay rise for their workers.
Ms Brock said: “The SNP in government put an extra £140m on the table, on top of the £100m extra given to councils earlier in the year, yet Labour refused to offer that money to refuse workers for over a week, leaving our capital streets an eyesore.
“Residents and tourists alike need to see a plan from Labour to clean up the capital starting today. All we’ve seen so far is ineptitude.”
Her Edinburgh SNP colleague Angus Robertson MSP weighed in:
The Labour administration in Edinburgh is propped up by the Scottish Conservatives and the Lib Dems, but the Tory Local Government spokesperson Miles Briggs MSP had a go at both the Labour-led council and the SNP Holyrood government:
Lamenting the city council’s ‘astounding’ lack of contingency planning – trade unions have made their plans very clear in the run-up to the strike – Lothians list MSP Miles Briggs said: “More could have been done to prepare the city, such as working with private companies or providing additional bins.
“The SNP government must get around the table and fix this before it’s too late. They cannot stand by and watch while a situation that they created by giving councils a poor funding settlement spirals out of control.”
Scotish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole Hamilton lays the blame squarely on the Scottish Government:
“Think of the white elephants the SNP has splurged cash on: independence, the ferries debacle, the embassies so they can play ‘dress-up diplomat’. All of this could have gone to councils to allow them to settle these very reasonable pay expectations.”
Talking of white elephants, our cash-strapped city council chose yesterday to announce £1 BILLION plans for a new North-South tram line … but that’s another story!
Responding to the Edinburgh refuse workers’ industrial action, Labour Lothian list MSP Foysul Choudhury said: “SNP representatives should get off their high horse about the ongoing industrial action when they should have been canvassing their own party in the Scottish Government to agree extra cash with COSLA for councils to pay workers a fair wage, rather than expecting Edinburgh City Council to cut services elsewhere.
“It is up to the Scottish Government and COSLA to agree further funding, and then up to COSLA and the unions to agree the terms of any new pay deal, not Edinburgh City Council. As a former City Councillor, Deidre Brock knows this and yet has pretended otherwise in the media.
“Nobody wants to see the streets of Edinburgh in their current state, but the ongoing industrial action shows what a crucial job refuse and recycling workers do and demonstrates why we should be paying them fairly for their work.
“At the same time it is ridiculous for SNP representatives to lay the strike at the hands of a Labour-led council when it is their party which has repeatedly slashed local government budgets in real terms, forcing councils to cut their services to the bone.
“If the SNP really wanted to avoid these strikes rather than play politics, they should have come to an agreement with COSLA sooner, or better still, avoided imposing successive years of painful austerity for local authorities across Scotland.”
UNITE City of Edinburgh Branch pointed out: “Misinformation on #edinburghbinstrikes today is rife. Strike is a national dispute—one council can’t stop it. 14 more councils tomorrow.
“Local government funding has been slashed for a decade. Idea that 5% definitely would have stopped this is a fantasy. An insulting one at that.”
STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer is backing the striking unions. In a tweet yesterday, Ms Foyer said: “Solidarity to all of you. Keep fighting!
“All Scotland’s local government workers deserve a decent pay rise for the vital work you do. Let’s show our support on the picket lines across Scotland tomorrow.”
PLANNED INDUSTRIAL ACTION:
Unison
School and early years workers will strike on 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th September, joining UNISON waste and recycling staff who will have already started their strike action on 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th August and 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th September.
Unite
Strikes will be held between the 18th August – 30th in Edinburgh with a second wave expected in a further 14 local authorities this week.
Aberdeen City, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.
Unison
In the first wave of action cleansing workers will strike in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire councils for the first wave of strike action to take place on 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th August and 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th September.
GMB
Cleansing workers will strike in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire councils for the first wave of strike action to take place on 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th August and 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th September.
We appreciate the impact and inconvenience this will cause you and appreciate your understanding. Please help us to keep the city as clean and safe as possible during the strike by following this guidance:
Report a waste emergency
If you need to report an emergency issue where waste is causing injury or hazard call us and listen to select an option carefully. Phone 0131 608 1100, from Monday -Thursday 1000-1600 and Friday 1000-1500. After these hours, phone 0131 200 2000.
You can also email waste@edinburgh.gov.uk with the specific location and details of the issue.
