EDINBURGH's bin strikes are set to continue as staff begin a decontamination process that is not expected to resolve the "risk to human health" warning over the capital's rubbish-strewn streets.
The first wave of council workers' strikes began on August 18 at the height of the Edinburgh festival, and images of rubbish piling up in Scotland’s capital city brought concerns about the way the nation was being seen on an international stage.
But the city's waste workers returned to work on Tuesday to deal with huge piles of rubbish which had accumulated in many streets.
The near two-week strike was deliberately timed to coincide with Edinburgh’s festival season, and union leaders are known to be pleased that at the high profile nature of the stoppage in their bid to squeeze as much money from the Scottish Government to pay council staff what they feel they are due.
But a second wave an eight day action is scheduled for this Tuesday in Edinburgh and a host of other local authorities.
That is because of the rejection of the latest offer of a 5% increase with a varying one-off payment, with Unite saying that for the lower paid it is estimated to be around £989.
And residents have been warned the rubbish may not be collected before the new tranche of action.
Public Health Scotland has expressed concern about the overflowing waste in Edinburgh and asked councils to decontaminate areas with overflowing rubbish.
Andrew Watterson, a professor of public health at Stirling University has said there is a growing concern people will begin to burn their rubbish which could cause health risks.
He said: “People could pick up all sorts of diseases that you might well associate with problems with food. If people decide to burn the waste the short-term problems would be things like headaches, nausea and rashes.”
Other experts raised concern that vermin may be attracted to the rubbish and bacteria could spread while warning that the public should not touch the waste.
The capital’s local authority said the “full backlog” of uncollected refuse will take time to clear, though that is unlikely to happen before the next scheduled round of strikes get under way.
The council warned: "Our crews are working hard but it might take a while before things get back to normal."
City of Edinburgh Council said blue glass box collections will continue to be suspended for the time being in order to “prioritise resources,” but household waste and recycling centres will reopen from Tuesday morning with extended hours.
The council said “additional resources” had been deployed to support street cleansing and communal waste collections. Much of the attention is to be focused on high-foot traffic areas including the city centre.
Council leader Cammy Day said residents would have to be “patient” while collections get back to a normal timetable.
He added: “This dispute has brought the value of our waste and cleansing teams – and their right to fair wage – into sharp focus and I’m delighted they’ll be back out from Tuesday, helping to return our city to its best.
“While they’ll be working hard to catch up on collections and making every effort to collect litter across the city, it’ll take time for things to return to normal. Please bear with them as they do so and, if you can store your extra waste safely for a little longer or are able to book an appointment at a recycling centre, please do so.
“If your bin is not collected on its normal day, please leave it out and it’ll be picked up as soon as possible thereafter.
“I appreciate that this has been an extremely challenging period for us all and I would like to thank our residents, businesses and visitors for their continued patience and understanding.”
He added: “As per Public Health Scotland’s advice, any areas that need to be decontaminated will be, as part of street cleansing duties.”
Unite cleansing staff in 13 other local authorities, including Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee finish an eight-day action on Wednesday.
Some 25 of Scotland's 32 local authorities have been hit by the waste disposal strike, with various actions by the three unions in dispute Unite, UNISON Scotland and GMB Scotland, due to end over the next two days and resumed next week.
One three-day wave of action by UNISON Scotland and GMB Scotland ended on Monday.
Unite's ‘first wave’ of strike action in Edinburgh was to end today.
And a further wave of action from Unite waste staff is due to end on Wednesday.
But a further tranche of waste disposal action is scheduled by all the unions starting on September 6 and 7. Unite are planning an eight-day action, while GMB Scotland and UNISON Scotland's stoppage is scheduled for four days.
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Waste and recycling services strike
Unite
August 18-30: City of Edinburgh
August 24 to 31 (8 days action) - Aberdeen City, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian. September 6 to 13 September (8 days action) – Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian.
UNISON
August 26 to 29 and September 7 to 10 - Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Stirling and South Lanarkshire.
GMB Scotland
August 26 to 29 and September 7 to 10 - Aberdeen City, Angus, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Glasgow, Inverclyde,Highland, Midlothian, Orkney, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, Perth and Kinross, North Lanarkshire.
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