A union has warned of potential disruption during the 2023 World Cycling Championships if workers back strike action in a dispute over pay.
GMB Scotland has served notice to ballot staff working in parking services in Glasgow and at the city’s Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, where track events will take place.
The union warned if there is strike action the championships in August will face city-wide disruption, with cars blocking streets for road events and velodrome events unable to go ahead.
It comes after 94% of GMB Scotland members rejected the 5.5% offer from employers.
Earlier this month, the union began balloting 8,000 of its local government members working in schools and early years settings for strike action, including cleaning, catering, janitorial, pupil support assistants and early years practitioners.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, said: “Our members on the front line of our local, public services are being offered a pay cut during the cost-of-living crisis whilst council leaders want to parade around during the World Cycling Championships.
“If councillors want to bring a first-class event to the city, they can’t give our members a second-class pay offer; they need to get on their bike and ask Scottish ministers for support to deliver a pay offer that values frontline council workers.
“Despite 94% of our members resoundingly rejecting the pay offer, COSLA have made little attempt to continue negotiations and council leaders are refusing to ask for Scottish Government intervention.
“GMB Scotland has been clear: our members need an improved offer which can only be achieved through the intervention of Scottish Government, otherwise, strike action is inevitable and any disruption to this global event will only further highlight the importance of the local government workforce.”
The ballot will be posted out to members working in parking and at the velodrome on 26 June.
The UCI Cycling World Championships will take place from 3 to 13 August.
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “Local government pay negotiations are conducted nationally through COSLA, not by individual councils.
“However, the council’s political leadership has made it clear, as it did last year, that Glasgow supports a settlement that works for both our staff and for public services.”
COSLA stated that it remains committed to meeting with trade unions at any time.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Local government pay negotiations are a matter for local authorities as employers and unions – the Scottish Government has no formal role.
“Despite UK Government cuts, the Scottish Government announced further funding as part of this year’s budget for councils to support a meaningful pay rise for local government workers.
“The Scottish Government urges all the parties involved to work together constructively and reach an agreement which is fair for the workforce and affordable for employers.”
Separately, GMB Scotland’s members at the Defence Equipment & Support (DES) depot in Beith are preparing to strike.
Last week, 93% of its members at the depot voted for industrial action over a dispute on retention bonuses. Managers and craft workers are in receipt of bonuses, while non-craft workers are not.
The union says that there is culture within the depot which has created a two-tier system, where non-craft workers are treated as second class.
DES is an arm’s length body of the Ministry of Defence which delivers equipment and support services to the UK armed forces.
GMB Scotland organiser Chris Kennedy said: “Without our members, the depots would not function. They deserve to be recognised for that work and to be treated fairly and equally.
“We have called for the UK Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace MP, to intervene and deliver parity for our members.
“Without his intervention, our members at Beith will take unprecedented strike action on his watch – the first in the history of DES.”
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