Emergency talks called by Nicola Sturgeon to broker a deal to halt bin strikes across Scotland ended last night (Thursday, September 1) with no agreement reached between the refuse workers and their local authority bosses.
The First Minister met representatives of the three unions involved and council leaders at the Scottish Government's headquarters in Edinburgh as cleanups began in Scottish cities following strike action. Mountains of rubbish have piled up and fresh strikes are due to start next week.
After about eight hours of talks, a Scottish Government spokesman said “detailed negotiations” had taken place and had “carried on late into the night”. Discussions started at 2.30pm, but at about 10.40pm, the Scottish Government urged the sides to reach a settlement to their pay dispute.
