The city’s waste workers went on strike on August 18 in a dispute over pay, but returned to work on Tuesday in the Scottish capital, where huge piles of rubbish have piled up on many streets. The strike was timed to coincide with Edinburgh’s festival season and spread to dozens of other areas across the country. Strikes in other areas will end later this week. But a new wave of industrial action in the cleaning and education sectors will take place in many parts of Scotland next week after unions on Monday rejected the latest “unacceptable” offer from local authorities. Hundreds of schools will be closed within three days as teaching staff, including early years, take part in strike action. Public Health Scotland previously warned that the build-up of waste could pose a risk to human health and told councils that “disinfection of public areas where bins have overflowed may be required”. Edinburgh council leader Cammy Day said: “All litter and cleaning crews will return to normal operations on Tuesday. “Whilst they will be working hard to cover collections and make every effort to collect litter across the city, we expect things will take some time to get back to normal and I would like to thank everyone who lives in, works or they visit the city for their patience. “Initially we will be focusing our street cleaning resources on the worst affected areas of the city and to help with this we will be bringing in additional resources to complement our crews from Tuesday. “In accordance with advice from Public Health Scotland, any areas that need to be disinfected will be covered, as part of street cleaning duties.” The council said additional resources would be used to support the clean-up effort, particularly in the city center and other areas hardest hit by the strike. After negotiations over the weekend, Unite’s local government committee flatly rejected an offer from umbrella council Cosla, while union GMB Scotland also rejected the deal. Unison said it would hold an advisory vote of members this week on the offer and recommend it be rejected. According to the Scottish Government, the deal included a minimum payment of £1,925 for council staff, with those earning £20,000 receiving £2,000. However, Unite said the payment could be as much as £989 for some employees, with 85% receiving between £1,925 and £2,000, and any payment would not be repeated. Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said all options for making more funding available amid the strikes had been “exhausted”. A senior GMB Scotland organizer, Keir Greenaway, said unions had pushed for a flat-rate increase, rather than an increase based on a percentage of current pay, claiming Cosla had put forward a deal that “only feathers the managers’ nests services”. But Cosla resources spokeswoman Katie Hagmann said that offer was “as good as it gets.” Wendy Dunsmore, Unite executive, said: “The offer remains unacceptable and represents a waste of valuable time. We understand the gravity of the situation across the country, but equally our members are facing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation.”
