Unions representing rail and council workers have confirmed plans for strike action during COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow.
Refuse and recycling workers will go on strike across Scotland from November 8, along with school cleaners, janitors and catering staff.
A joint trade union group, including Unison, Unite and GMB, is seeking a £2,000 flat-rate pay increase or 6 per cent, whichever is greater, from Scotland’s local authority umbrella body Cosla.
ScotRail will also be hit by strikes, starting from November 1, after the RMT’s AGM in Leeds rejected the latest “pitiful” pay offer.
The Scottish Government said it would focus on “making alternative plans for rail operations during COP26” if ScotRail’s offer was not accepted by tomorrow [Wednesday].
Despite fears of travel chaos and business disruption, Glasgow’s council leader insisted the city was ready, “with caveats”, to host the conference but there were still some “technical” issues to resolve.
Meanwhile, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg confirmed she would participate in a climate strike taking place in Glasgow on November 5 and invited workers engaged in industrial action to join her. It also emerged yesterday that thousands of delegates planning to attend COP26 were still struggling to find accommodation amid fears of travel chaos and business disruption.
MPs were told there was an “accommodation crisis”, with as many as 3,000 people coming to Glasgow for the global climate conference not yet having anywhere to stay and emergency accommodation being sought in gym halls and community centres.
They also heard that people who booked accommodation in Edinburgh and planned to travel to Glasgow would face “serious problems” if the rail strike went ahead, while emergency accommodation had also been sought in gym halls and community centres. During a session of the Scottish Affairs Committee yesterday, Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken was asked by MPs about the city’s readiness for the climate conference.
Ms Aitken said the city was ready, “with caveats” and there were still some “technical” issues to resolve. She added that 12,000 hours of work had gone in to preparations for the event. Asked about reports of rubbish and waste piling up on Glasgow’s streets, Ms Aitken played down the notion that the city had worse problems than elsewhere.
She said that Glasgow was not a “uniquely dirty” city, and pointed to Edinburgh and London as also having problems with rubbish and filth.
Ms Aitken also enraged a trade union which represents Glasgow bin collectors, when she played down reports of two employees having to go to hospital after being attacked by rats.
She said the staff were taken as a “precaution”, they had only “minor contact” with the vermin, and it was not unusual for cleansing staff to encounter rats. Dr Kat Jones, of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, told MPs that the council leader’s claims that all delegates had secured accommodation for the event were untrue and as many as 3000 people did not yet have a place to stay.
She said: “This is definitely an accommodation crisis...”
and waste piling up on Glasgow’s streets, Ms Aitken played down the notion that the city had worse problems than elsewhere.
She said that Glasgow was not a “uniquely dirty” city, and pointed to Edinburgh and London also having problems with rubbish and filth.
Ms Aitken also enraged a trade union that represents Glasgow bin collectors when she played down reports of two employees having to go to hospital after being attacked by rats.
She said the staff were taken as a “precaution”, they had only “minor contact” with the vermin, and it was not unusual for cleansing staff to encounter rats. Dr Kat Jones, of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland, told MPs that the council leader’s claims that all delegates had secured accommodation for the event were untrue and as many as 3000 people did not yet have a place to stay.
She said: “This is definitely an accommodation crisis...”“We’re really encouraging people not to travel to Glasgow unless they’ve got confirmed accommodation, and what Councillor Aitken said about all delegates having accommodation is not true. “There are thousands of delegates who don’t have accommodation because often the badges aren’t given out until a few weeks beforehand and most of the accommodation was booked in Glasgow months ago.”
Janice Fisher, co-chairwoman of the Greater Glasgow Hotels Association was asked about who would be responsible if there was not enough accommodation for everyone coming to COP26 - the Cabinet Office, or MCI group, the company contracted to arrange the accommodation.
Ms Fisher responded that MCI was contracted on behalf of the Cabinet Office, indicating that the UK Government department had overall responsibility.
Colin Edgar, Glasgow City Council’s head of communications, told MPs that he was kept awake at night by “everything” to do with the conference. He acknowledged that there were likely to be serious problems for people who had hoped to travel easily from Edinburgh to Glasgow during the COP26 fortnight, explaining: “If you can’t get the train from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and the trains are cancelled, then they can’t get here. That’s absolutely the case. I would suggest that’s why the unions have chosen to strike at this time.
“It is going to be a serious problem for those people if they have come from around the world, and are only 45 minutes away, if they can’t get a bus or an Uber.”
Businesses that sit in the secure conference zone and have to close for the event have been promised compensation by the UK Government, but no details of the scheme have emerged, Mr Edgar said. A spike in coronavirus cases is expected after the conference, with up to 150,000 people heading to Glasgow from all over the world.
Mr Edgar said that delegates would be “debadged” if they broke strict Covid rules including things like moving chairs in conference rooms.
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