HUNDREDS of binmen gathered at cleansing depots across Glasgow today in a campaign for better pay.

As more than 100 world leaders descended into the city for the first day of COP26, bins were left unemptied and streets strewn with litter.

A total of 970 cleansing employees downed their tools and stalled their duties as the first day of industrial action commenced. 

The planned strikes during the climate summit were previously called off on Friday after a new pay offer was proposed by COSLA - an umbrella body responsible for Scottish councils.

Glasgow Times:

But yesterday, the GMB announced the collapse of last-ditch talks with Glasgow City Council due to there being “too much bad faith among members” towards the local authority.

Chris Mitchell, branch 40 convener for the GMB, said: “Our members are getting miffed by the whole situation and there is bad faith growing towards the council.

“Glasgow City Council should have engaged with our members over the weekend. We asked for dispensation to have a mass meeting.

“There will be strikes now until we get back around the table. We had a meeting last night but it broke down, unfortunately. We tried to give them a few points to try and get this issue resolved but it didn’t go through."

Glasgow Times:

After agreeing to suspend strikes during COP26, the Glasgow Times understands that union chiefs asked for members to have Monday and Tuesday off this week to allow "proper time and space" to consider an offer from the local authority body, COSLA.

But, after talks stalled, the GMB U-turned on agreements not to strike during the climate event. 

Mr Mitchell added: “We’re open to discussions and dialogues to get back to work. Our members do not want to strike – they want to get paid and go to work every day.

“For now, we will be at depots every day picketing until we get better pay. The dispute remains about pay but the industrial relations have been completely broken down.

“People have been receiving bonus payments during the pandemic and during COP26 – why are we any different?

“We want communication with the council and if they can offer us something, we can take it back to our members.”

Glasgow Times:

Workers picketing at Dawsholm Depot in Maryhill argued that COSLA's most recent pay proposal - £1062 for those earning below £25,000 - did not reflect inflation. 

One bin lorry driver, who wished not to be named, said: “For the last 10 years with the recession, our pay has actually fallen backwards instead of going up because of the way inflation has been.

“We’ve had rises of 1% year on year but it works out as a reduction because living standards are higher than our wages, year on year.

“We just want a rise, in real terms, above inflation. It has to be at a certain per cent where living standards won’t suffer because of inflation.

“The 1% pay rise, in real terms again, has made us fall behind."

Meanwhile, others called for a pay rise that reflected the workforce's efforts during Covid-19.

Another binman, who also wished not to be named, said: “During Covid, we all came to work and got a letter on the day the country went into lockdown saying that we were essential workers.

“The essential worker aspect of our jobs has been completely forgotten about. We came to work while people in the rest of Scotland and Glasgow stayed at home.

“We were put to work and we continued our normal service – we didn’t know what we were dealing with or the virus that we were up against.

“Private companies and agencies are getting more and we are all doing the same job – it isn’t fair. It’s time for us to be paid better and fairly.”

The strikes are expected to last until November 8.

A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “It is very disappointing GMB has gone back on their decision to suspend strike action while they consulted with their members on the national pay award agreed at COSLA.

“On Friday GMB indicated they would take two weeks to consider their members’ views on the national pay award and so there is no reason for this strike to go ahead at this time.

“Over the weekend we indicated to GMB they could meet at cleansing depots to discuss the national pay offer with their members so long there was no overall impact on the delivery of services.”