LOCAL government staff striking over pay made their voices heard in Glasgow as it emerged social care workers are requesting to be balloted for industrial action.
Union members from GMB, Unite, and Unison all gathered on the steps outside the Royal Concert Hall on Friday after rejecting a 5% pay rise from Cosla, claiming it is insufficient in the facing of soaring inflation and energy bills.
Following walkouts by waste workers in Edinburgh over the last week, strikes are now set to take place in education and waste services in 20 council areas across Scotland.
Members currently taking strike action in 14 councils will take another eight days of action from September 6 to 13. A further five councils are set to join the second phase of strike action.
Education staff will stage strikes from September 6 to 9 across multiple areas including Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, and South Lanarkshire.
During the rally, Unite Scottish regional executive member Eddie Cassidy also confirmed social care staff members had approached the union requesting to be balloted next, as fears intensify around how the vulnerable and elderly are going to survive through the winter.
Cassidy, who made a speech on the steps, said: “Social care workers are demanding that we ballot them next. These are the lowest paid people in the whole of the council.
“There are also concerns in relation to the rota system that they’ve got, because they don’t feel they have adequate time with their clients.
“We wanted to drive home the message about pay and the cost of living. The anger is palpable. The resolve of the membership is staggering. They are not going to walk away from this.
“They have accepted below-inflation increases for the past 10 years so their real terms income has been eroded vastly. Now is the time to say 'no more'.”
Other unions including Strathclyde University and College Union (UCU) and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) stood in solidarity with council staff as chants of “fair pay” were heard down Buchanan Street.
Danny Phillips, communications manager for Unison Scotland, said: “We’ve got waste and recycling strikers right across Glasgow who are on strike at the moment and very soon education workers will be coming out on strike too.
“It’s taken eight months to get Cosla and the Scottish Government round the table to have proper talks about pay. They offered 2% initially, inflation could be at 13.5% soon. Workers have had 10 years of pay cuts and they’ve had enough.
“They were told they couldn’t get a pay rise because of the pandemic, then it was austerity and now they’re being told they’re going to have to take another pay cut.
“We will be on strike until we get a decent pay rise.”
Talks between Cosla, trade unions and the Scottish Government took place on Thursday.
It comes after Ofgem confirmed an 80.06% rise in the energy price cap, sending the average household’s yearly bill from £1971 to £3549 from October.
GMB Scotland waste and recycling members are taking strike action in Aberdeen City, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Highland, Midlothian, Orkney, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, Perth and Kinross and North Lanarkshire.
It said four more days of strikes in waste and recycling services will run from Wednesday, September 7, to Saturday, September 10, alongside three days of strike action on September 6, 7 and 8 involving GMB schools and early years services members in Glasgow City and East Renfrewshire councils.
Unite members in waste services who are currently taking strike action will take another eight days of action from September 6 to 13, while a further five local authorities – Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, Fife and North Ayrshire – will join the second phase of strike action.
The union’s members in schools and early years services across seven councils – Angus, Dundee, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, and South Lanarkshire – are also scheduled to take strike action from September 6 to 9.
Unite waste services members are currently striking in Edinburgh, Aberdeen City, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.
Unison waste and recycling members are striking in Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire.
