Clean-up begins as Edinburgh bin strike comes to an end after 12 days: Refuse workers clear huge piles of rubbish that had sparked surge in RATS across city – as staff prepare for another walkout next week
- Edinburgh’s bin workers are today cleaning up the city after 12 days of strikes
- They walked out in bitter pay row leaving the city’s streets filthy and rat-infested
- Council group Cosla say one-off £2k offer ‘as good as it gets’ as Unions reject it
- Nicola Sturgeon said funding options ‘exhausted’ as more strikes due next week
A major clean-up operation has today begun in Edinburgh as bin workers return to work after 12 days of strikes left the city’s streets overflowing with rubbish and rats.
Waste workers walked out over a pay row on August 18, timed to coincide with the Edinburgh Festival, and spread to dozens of other council areas in Scotland.
Pest controllers have said that the huge amounts of litter have meant ‘the rats have taken over’.
An agency worker in West Port this morning said the clean-up was a ‘nightmare’ after he had filled a huge bin and had it emptied by a lorry three times by 7.30am, just two and a half hours after the strike ended.
Another bin lorry driver also said there were just two with a capacity of nine tonnes operating in the centre of Edinburgh, the BBC reports.
He said his colleague running in front to fill bins would be ‘exhausted in an hour’ and that what they usually do in one hour is instead taking four.
Refuse workers today started the major cleanup operation in Edinburgh after being on industrial action since August 18. Pictured: Refuse workers clearing piles of rubbish at the city’s Grassmarket
Unite the Union members rejected an offer which would see those on £20,000 get a one-time payment of £2,000
Pest Force Pest Control Services owner George Buchan said the rubbish in the streets encourages vermin, such as rats, foxes and seagulls to ‘feast’
Another wave of industrial action will go ahead from next Tuesday, September 6, after unions yesterday rejected the latest ‘unacceptable’ offer from local authorities.
Hundreds of schools will close over three days as education staff, including early years, join the strike action.
Pest Force Pest Control Services owner George Buchan said the rubbish in the streets encourages vermin, such as rats, foxes and seagulls to ‘feast’.
He said that there ‘used to be mice in Edinburgh but the rats have taken over.
Once the bins have been lifted, he was concerned that the pests will then move into people’s homes.
Public Health Scotland previously warned the build-up of waste could become a risk to human health, and told councils that ‘decontamination of public areas where bins have overflowed may be required’.
Another wave of industrial action will go ahead from next Tuesday, September 6, after unions yesterday rejected the latest ‘unacceptable’ offer from local authorities
Edinburgh Council leader Cammy Day said: ‘All of our waste and cleansing crews will return to normal service on Tuesday’
Pictured: A street’s worth of overflowing bins on the streets of Edinburgh
Refuse workers demonstrating yesterday outside the City Chambers as discussions between the unions and the council’s umbrella body Cosla
Edinburgh Council leader Cammy Day said: ‘All of our waste and cleansing crews will return to normal service on Tuesday.
‘While they’ll be working hard to catch up on collections and making every effort to collect litter across the city, we’re expecting things to take a little while to return to normal, and I’d like to thank all those living in, working in or visiting the city for their patience.
‘At first we’ll be focusing street cleansing resources on the worst affected areas of the city and to help with this we will be bringing in additional resources to supplement our in-house crews from Tuesday.
‘As per Public Health Scotland’s advice, any areas that need to be decontaminated will be, as part of street cleansing duties.’
The council said that additional resources will be deployed to support the clean-up effort, particularly in the city centre and other areas most affected by the strike.
After negotiations over the weekend, Unite’s local government committee rejected outright an offer from council umbrella body Cosla, while the GMB Scotland union also turned the deal down.
Unison said it would hold a consultative ballot of members this week on the offer, and would recommend they reject it.
According to the Scottish Government, the deal included a payment of at least £1,925 for council staff, with those earning £20,000 receiving £2,000.
But Unite said the payment could be as low as £989 for some employees, with 85% receiving between £1,925 and £2,000, and any payment would not be recurring.
After negotiations over the weekend, Unite’s local government committee rejected outright an offer from council umbrella body Cosla, while the GMB Scotland union also turned the deal down
Members of the public walk past a large piles of rubbish yesterday
While strikes from refuse have ended today, a second wave is due next Tuesday
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said all options in making more funding available amid the strikes have been ‘exhausted’.
GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said the unions pushed for a flat-rate increase, rather than one based on a percentage of current wage, claiming that Cosla tabled a deal that ‘only feathers the nests of service directors’.
But Cosla resources spokeswoman Katie Hagmann said this offer was ‘as good as it gets’.
Wendy Dunsmore, Unite’s industrial officer, said: ‘The offer remains unacceptable and it represents a waste of precious 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.’
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