Edinburgh bin strike: Scotland's council leaders to ask Scottish Government to fund settlement

Unions, whose members have already voted for industrial action, have rejected the latest pay offer from council umbrella body Cosla and said strikes would go ahead unless more money is put on the table.

The rubbish lining the streets in Edinburgh after six days of the bin strikes in 2022. Picture: Lisa Ferguson | Lisa Ferguson

But councils say anything more than the 3.2 per cent offer they have made is unaffordable. And an online meeting of council leaders on Wednesday morning agreed a Labour proposal to join with the trade unions in requesting a joint meeting with Scottish Government to seek additional funding for pay, including discussion on the possibility of a multi-year deal.

They also agreed to request, on this basis, that the unions suspended any industrial action pending discussions with Scottish Government.

Edinburgh council, in particular, wants to avoid a repeat of the strike in August 2022 when waste and recycling staff walked out for 12 days, leaving rubbish to pile up in the streets. The Unite union has predicted “a stinking Scottish summer” unless a better deal can be reached.

Council leader Cammy Day said the Scottish Government had stepped in with extra funding in previous years. “We are at the end of what we can offer in a pay award. I absolutely respect the position of the trade unions and their members to take the appropriate action they feel necessary to get a decent and reasonable pay award. But that won’t happen without the government being around the table and putting some more money on the table.”

The unions welcomed the move by Cosla to seek new money from the Scottish Government

Graham McNab, industrial officer at Unite, said: "Unite has been calling for discussions involving the trade unions, the Scottish Government and Cosla for months now so we welcome all efforts that bring everyone together in order to find ways which can break through the current impasse."

He said the dispute was "now in the hands of the politicians", adding it would take an offer of at least £1,290, or 5.2 per cent, for workers on around £25,000.

"There remains a window of opportunity before any strike action takes place and we stand ready to enter negotiations at any time, but we will not be suspending any action until that fair offer is on the table," he added.

Keir Greenaway , senior officer for GMB Scotland, said: "It has been clear for some time that local authorities do not have the will or resource to make a fair and acceptable pay offer and an approach to the Scottish Government was the only route to a resolution.

"Instead of making that approach, finding agreement and averting industrial action, council leaders have sat on their hands for months while our members were forced to wait for a pay offer that fairly recognises their work.

"If the Scottish Government does not come to the table urgently, there will be no meaningful discussions, no route to a resolution and no chance of halting strike action."

First Minister John Swinney has repeatedly said he wants to see the dispute end, but declined to comment on the possibility of providing additional money when questioned by journalists on Tuesday.