Bin workers at 15 Scottish councils to strike in pay dispute

Bin workers at 15 Scottish councils will go on strike in a new wave of industrial action later this month.

The Unite union said about 1,500 members would walk out from 24 August to 31 August over a pay dispute.

It follows a first wave of strikes in Edinburgh next week during the city's International and Fringe festivals.

Unite said the action would hit all council waste services in response to a "pitiful" 2% local government pay offer.

The councils affected are Aberdeen, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian.

It is part of a coordinated campaign by Unite, Unison and the GMB unions to persuade the Scottish government and local authority body Cosla to make an improved pay deal.

Unite is the only union involved in this phase of strikes.

General secretary, Sharon Graham, said: "Unite's members play a crucial role in keeping Scotland's bins emptied and streets clean and they have had enough of the procrastination between Cosla and the Scottish government.

"Our members across all councils will receive the union's complete support until this dispute is resolved and a fair pay offer secured."

The union said more than half of Scotland's 250,000 council staff are earning less than £25,000 a year for a 37-hour week.

Thousands of workers in schools, nurseries and waste and recycling centres voted last month to take industrial action.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney last week announced that the Scottish government would give councils an extra £140m to help give staff a bigger pay rise.

Mr Swinney said: "This additional funding demonstrates our commitment to local government and their staff and will allow local authorities to make a significantly enhanced pay offer."

"Without the ability to borrow or change tax policy, this will have a significant and ongoing impact upon our fixed budget that ministers are taking steps to address.

"Finding a solution must be a collaborative endeavour and local authorities now need to do the same."

Unite said there had been "no indication" of how this additional funding would be used.

Cosla said it had held "constructive discussions" with the Scottish government last week.

A spokesperson added: "Given the importance of a pay award for our workforce, council leaders wanted to seek further clarification from both the Scottish government and UK government and will reconvene this week to further consider this matter."