FORMER Edinburgh council leader Adam McVey has slammed the Labour administration for being “asleep at the wheel” as bin strikes left the city in a “shameful” state.
The SNP group leader, who represents Leith, told The National that he was “disgusted” by Labour’s actions amid the dispute over pay with council staff, adding that the strikes could have been averted if they hadn’t forced through an original pay offer of 3.5%.
McVey urged the current administration to “show some leadership” and stop acting as if they “are on holiday”.
Speaking on day five of the strikes, where overflowing bins and litter-strewn streets impacted the festival atmosphere in the city centre, McVey said the SNP group had tabled a motion for later in the week to force the Labour administration into a U-turn over the 3.5% offer.
With an improved offer now on the table, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hopes there can be a solution to the strikes.
McVey said: “We’ve now got a 5% pay offer on the table, but we’ve still seen no leadership whatsoever.
“We’ve seen no meetings substantively with our trade union colleagues, to find out exactly what their aspirations are from politicians in Edinburgh.
“They are totally asleep at the wheel and letting Edinburgh just get into a worse and worse position. It’s just not good enough, it’s not good enough for our hard-working staff or for people in Edinburgh who are dealing with the consequences of the strike action.
“We need to support our staff, listen to them and find a resolution. It’s going to take leadership and unfortunately that leadership from the three parties in administration right now has been absolutely sorely lacking.”
Edinburgh is currently a Labour minority administration but was able to take over from the previous SNP group with help from Tory and LibDem councillors.
McVey added that the current leadership need to “step up” and continue to engage in negotiations. He said: “They can’t just treat this like a holiday as they have been, they need to treat this and do their job, represent hard-working staff, represent the people of Edinburgh and try and break through and find a solution.
“This requires dedicated and sustained leadership, and we have seen none of it unfortunately in the last few weeks.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been under fire for his silence on the issue, after repeatedly posing with overflowing bins in SNP-ran Glasgow during the COP26 climate conference.
Asked for his view on Sarwar’s lack of action on the issue, McVey said: “Funnily enough, Anas Sarwar hasn’t visited Edinburgh to see the state of the city.
“Anas Sarwar instructed his Labour council leaders to vote for a 3.5% pay offer to try and play this outrageous game of chicken with our staff and our trade unions, to try and force a conflict. It’s shameful.
“Edinburgh (councillors) at that meeting with Cosla voted for a 3.5% pay offer when Edinburgh had 4.5% in the bank ready to pay our staff, that’s short changing a bin worker on £25,000 by £250 a year at a time when they need it most.”
This was “shameful”, McVey said, adding that they “should be held to account and made to explain their actions”.
He continued: “That’s not just the Labour leader in Edinburgh, it’s Anas Sarwar and the instructions he’s giving to his council leaders and we know he does, in terms of what he has inflicted upon this capital city and of course communities right across Scotland.
“He’s failed to support workers, and in the end he’s failed to make sure his council leaders are round the table making sure there are discussions going on to resolve these issues and support our workforce properly.”
