Council waste workers in Scotland are set to walk out on strike next month, with union leaders warning the move will be a “win-win”.
Unison, the largest local government union, has confirmed that staff in 13 council areas will walk out for more than a week in August.
The GMB said its members will take action over the same eight days in August, including Edinburgh City Council staff who will strike during the capital’s busy summer festival period.
The action will also affect Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, which is due to start at 5am on Wednesday 14 August and last until 4.59am on Thursday 22 August.
GMB members in 18 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas will be on strike, and the union said the action would mean bins would not be employed “from the smallest villages to the biggest cities”.
It comes amid a dispute over pay for council workers, with the three unions involved – Unison, Unite and the GMB – rejecting a 3.2% pay rise offered by local government body Cosla.
Although there were talks between the unions, Cosla leaders and the Scottish Finance Secretary, Shona Robison, on Tuesday, no agreement has yet been reached to end the dispute.
Union leaders have already warned of a “hot summer” as uncollected rubbish arrives, and the GMB has confirmed strike dates for its members, which it said will go ahead if councils and ministers do not recognize “the money that is urgently needed. to make a fair and acceptable offer”.
A similar dispute, which saw piles of rubbish on the streets of Edinburgh during the 2022 festive season, did not end when the Scottish Government provided councils with extra funds for workers’ wages.
Cosla said on Wednesday that council chiefs have “very limited options” to resolve the dispute, although resources spokeswoman Katie Hagmann insisted they would “explore all options to avoid industrial action”.
Keir Greenaway, senior organizer for GMB Scotland, said the 3.2% offer failed to keep up with the cost of living and was below the increase offered to council workers in England.
Although he said that talks with Cosla and the Government had been “constructive”, he said: “Our members are less interested in constructive talks than in fair pay.
“The process has gone on for too long and not much progress has been made. No more time to waste talking about old offers with a new cover. That’s enough.
“Industrial action will begin in two weeks if the ministers and local authorities do not urgently identify the money needed to make a fair and acceptable offer.
“These strikes will affect all Scots who rely on the work of our members, but they would not be necessary if councils had shown more urgency and a sense of realism.”
Unison Scotland local government leader David O’Connor said that while the talks were “positive” they were “too late to prevent strike notices being served”.
Unison workers in 13 areas will go on strike between August 14 and 22, and Mr O’Connor said: “We are forcing employers and the Government to focus on finding a solution.”
Collette Hunter, local government chair of Unison Scotland, said: “Strikes are always a last resort. But local government staff have seen their wages drop by a quarter over the past 14 years.
“They’re just looking for a wage market that recognizes the essential services they provide and begins to address years of below-inflation wage settlements.
“Cosla and the Scottish Government must understand the anger among council staff. They are determined and strikes will continue unless a solution is found.”
Ms Hagmann said Tuesday’s talks gave Cosla the opportunity to “express the financial challenges facing local government in meeting wage demands”.
She added: “It was an open and honest discussion about how challenging the situation is with the council’s finances.
“While no immediate solution has been identified, officers will quickly undertake additional work over 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 must be both affordable and sustainable”.
Ms Hagmann continued: “Cosla remains committed to continuing our negotiations to find a solution as quickly as possible, trying to do everything we can to avoid industrial action and its adverse impact on our communities.
“Council leaders value the local government workforce and the essential work they do across our communities, they recognize the workforce pressures and the need to reward them fairly.”
Speaking after the talks on Tuesday evening, Mr Robison said her officials would now “work quickly with local government officials to understand what an enhanced negotiation cover will look like”.
While the Scottish Conservatives are calling for Prime Minister John Swinney to intervene in an attempt to resolve the dispute, Mr Robison stressed “no formal role in local pay negotiations”.