Industrial action seems set to affect Edinburgh’s waste and recycling services during the Festival season due to a pay dispute.The GMB and Unite unions said that local government body Cosla had offered a significant shortfall in pay for local government workers. Cosla, which has defended its pay offer, has urged the unions to avoid strike action. As we highlighted last week, a shortage of waste collection facilities during the Fringe has previously caused significant backlogs of waste in the city. A similar strike took place in 2019.
Cosla has tabled a pay offer lasting from 1 April until 30 September next year. The offer includes a 2.2% rise from 1 April, with a further 2% to be targeted from 1 October. Unite’s Edinburg secretary, Brian Robertson, stated that this fell short of expectations, with many local government workers taken home less than £20k per annum.
Various GMB waste services workers from across Scotland are involved in the mandate to strike, with councils in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Fife, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Lanarkshire, Orkney Islands, Perth and Kinross, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, and Edinburgh being covered by the mandate. Robertson urged the Scottish government to consider the situation before the festival caused disruption to the city’s waste collection services.
A Cosla spokesperson stated that Cosla had offered a strong offer, “at the limits of affordability for councils”, but that industrial action risked public health.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More