WASTE workers in 15 councils across Scotland are set to walk out over a ‘pitiful’ pay offer.
Unite the union confirmed on Wednesday that members will walk out in response to a 2% local government pay offer.
Strike action is set to begin on August 24 and end on August 31 in addition to action already announced in Edinburgh which will begin on August 18.
Around 250 staff at Edinburgh City Council have already said they plan to walk out over a pay dispute on August 18 and 30 - the busiest time of the year for the city owing to the Fringe.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members play a crucial role in keeping Scotland’s bins emptied and streets clean and they have had enough of the procrastination between COSLA and the Scottish Government that has led us to where we are now.
“Unite will always defend the jobs, pay and conditions of its members.”
It is estimated that around 1500 Unite members will join their colleagues in City of Edinburgh Cleansing and participate in the second wave of strike action.
Unite will be the only union involved in this phase of council strike action.
Unite regional officer Wendy Dunsmore said: “Council workers have had enough of sub-standard settlements and deserve a decent wage to sustain their families given the inflation predictions and soaring food and energy prices.
“The failure of both COSLA and the Scottish Government to work to bring an improved offer to the table that could have halted this action means any blame for where we are now should be directed back to them.
“We are calling once again on COSLA to make a fair and decent offer to workers now in order to avoid the forthcoming wave of strikes.”
It has been reported that more than half of Scotland’s £250,000 council workers are earning less than £25,000 a year for a 37-hour week.
Unite previously warned all new council leaders if they do not act to improve pay, they will see strikes this summer.
The councils involved in the second phase include:
- Aberdeen City
- Angus
- Clackmannanshire
- Dundee
- East Ayrshire
- East Lothian
- East Renfrewshire
- Falkirk
- Glasgow
- Highland
- Inverclyde
- South Ayrshire
- South Lanarkshire
- West Lothian
A Cosla spokesperson said: "We held constructive discussions with the Scottish Government last week.
"Leaders met virtually on Friday and at this meeting agreed they needed further information.
"Given the importance of a pay award for our workforce, council leaders wanted to seek further clarification from both the Scottish Government and the UK Government and will reconvene later this week to further consider the matter."
On August 1, Deptuty First Minister John Swinney wrote to the UK Government calling for further funding to be provided to public sector pay deals.
He said: "Following constructive discussions with Cosla leaders, and notwithstanding the financial impact on our fully committed budget, the Scottish Government is contributing a further £140 million of recurring funding to support Cosla to make a revised pay offer to the local government workforce.
"Without the ability to borrow or change tax policy, this will have a siginficant and ongoing impact upon our fixed budget that ministers are taking steps to address.
"Finding a solution must be a collaborative endeavour and local authorities now need to do the same.
"The additional funding demonstrates our commitment to local government and their staff and will allow local authorities to make a significantly enhanced pay offer."
