Binmen have announced a strike during the Edinburgh Festival, threatening another stinking summer with rubbish piled high in the streets.
Members of the GMB, Unison and Unite trade unions confirmed waste workers would stage an eight-day walkout in Scotland between Aug 14 and 22.
Eighteen local authority areas will be affected, including Edinburgh, which is hosting its Fringe and International festivals. The city’s population is expected to double to a million people over August.
Similar strikes two years ago left the streets of Scotland’s capital strewn with rubbish, with bins overflowing.
John Swinney, the First Minister, said at the time that the piles of festering waste were “deeply concerning for public health”. The announcement raised pressure on Mr Swinney to bow to council pleas to provide extra funding for a higher pay offer.
Unite has previously warned a “stinking Scottish summer” is on the way unless the SNP government stumps up more cash.
Shona Robison, the SNP finance secretary, and council leaders expressed disappointment at the announcement being made while pay negotiations were still being conducted.
But the Scottish Tories said the “buck stops with the SNP for this dispute” thanks to local government being underfunded and demanded that ministers call an urgent summit to avert the strikes.
Miles Briggs, the Scottish Tory MSP for the Lothian region, which includes Edinburgh, said: “We simply cannot allow rubbish to pile high in the streets of Scotland again.
“This strike action is set to take place in the middle of the Edinburgh festivals, at a time the capital is welcoming the world to our beautiful city.
“In 2022, we saw the level of disruption that these strikes caused, with rubbish strewn across our streets. The strikes would also cause significant public health concerns, with rubbish not being removed.”
All three unions have rejected a 3.2 per cent pay rise offered by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), the council umbrella body. Both sides and Ms Robison held talks that were described as “positive” on Tuesday but no deal was reached.
Only six of Scotland’s 32 council areas – Argyll and Bute, Na h-Eileanan an lar, Moray, Borders, Shetland and West Dunbartonshire – would be unaffected by the action from any of the three unions.
Keir Greenaway, the senior organiser in public services for GMB Scotland, said the Cosla offer had failed to match the rise handed to council workers in England and Wales.
He said: “We had constructive talks with the Scottish Government and Cosla yesterday but our members are less interested in constructive talks than fair pay. The process has gone on too long with too little progress.
“We are more than halfway through the year and there is no more time to waste discussing old offers with new wrapping. Enough is enough.
“Industrial action will start in two weeks unless ministers and local authorities identify the money needed to make an acceptable offer.”
Unite confirmed thousands of its waste staff would walk out “if no credible pay offer is tabled” before Aug 14.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said: “Our membership has waited months for an offer which reflects their professionalism and the dedication which they put into delivering vital local services.”
Unison, the largest local government union, has previously confirmed that staff in 13 local authority areas will walk out over the same period.
David O’Connor, the Unison Scotland government lead, said: “Unison has been trying to get pay resolved since the beginning of the year and these government talks come too late to prevent strike notices being served.”
Councillor Cammy Day, the leader of Labour-led Edinburgh city council, warned that “urgent progress needs to be made if we are to prevent significant disruption during one of the most important and enjoyable periods in Edinburgh’s calendar.”
He added: “I’m extremely concerned about the impact this will have on bin collections and street cleaning services, as well as the cleanliness of our city. But I want to assure residents that we’ll be doing all we can to minimise any impact on essential services.”
A Cosla spokeswoman added: “We are disappointed to hear that Unions have announced strike dates in some areas so soon after a constructive joint meeting with the Scottish Government took place yesterday, and while negotiations are still ongoing.
“Our trade union partners are aware that considerable work is being done at pace to explore all options. We continue to reiterate that with no new funding in place, the 3.2 per cent offer is the limit of affordability for councils in the current challenging financial circ*mstances.”
Ms Robison said: “While this move to plan strike action is within unions’ rights and is not entirely unexpected, it is nonetheless disappointing, given the constructive and positive dialogue with national representatives of all the local government unions and Cosla representatives yesterday.”
