THE LABOUR leader of Edinburgh Council has been urged not to use new anti-trade union laws to bring in agency staff to cover striking refuse workers.
Councillor Cammy Day alarmed trade unions yesterday when he said the council had a Plan B for dealing with the 12-day walkout of more than 250 workers represented by GMB and Unite.
The industrial action - over a pay rise offer of just 2 per cent - comes at the busiest point of the festival season, with the Fringe, the book festival, the art festival, the international festival, the film festival and the TV festival all underway.
Thousands of tourists will be in the city.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Monday morning, Cllr Day said the council’s “teams are planning for if the strike happens, how we will manage it.”
He added: “So we won’t have the city strewn with litter and overflowing bins, we will have a plan to resolve that. But ultimately I don’t want the strike to happen.”
He continued: “As soon as the ballot was announced a few weeks back, our office has been working on a Plan B for that.”
Both GMB and Unite have asked Cllr Day to explain what is involved in his Plan B, and both have asked the veteran councillor to rule out the use of agency staff.
Labour was hugely critical of the SNP administration in Glasgow last year when they called in external workers to help collect rubbish ahead of Bonfire Night during that city’s bin collection strikes.
GMB Scotland Organiser Kirsten Muat said she had written to Cllr Day and asked him to “clarify his position on the planned strikes affecting waste and recycling.”
She added: “It would be deeply troubling if the councillor attempted to undermine a lawful industrial action fighting against the threat of working poverty during the festival in the same way that Glasgow City Council did during COP26.
“Instead of widening the gulf between political leaders and frontline workers, GMB members, facing the prospect of just a tenner a week extra on their wages to confront the biggest cost of living crisis in 40 years, would rather see Cllr Day use his influence to ensure COSLA and the Scottish Government table a significantly improved pay offer for their consultation.”
Earlier this month, the UK Government repealed a trade union law preventing the use of skilled agency workers to plug staffing gaps caused by strike action.
Mary Alexander, Deputy Regional Secretary for Unite said she would expect the council not to use the change in law to bring in agency workers.
“I'm not quite sure what he is suggesting in his interview,” she said.
“We firmly believe in the right to protest and strike and we don't believe that these regulations are needed. We would expect Edinburgh Council not to enforce them. We will be very strong, when we meet with Cammy, on that point.”
She added: “Nobody wants to go on strike but when the economic situation is the way it is, and we haven't had a decent pay rise for 15 years, this is where we are at. “
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