Bin strikes in Scotland have spread as workers walked out in more areas.
GMB Scotland members in 16 council areas started four days of action from Friday until Monday, coinciding with existing action in Edinburgh.
Unison members in waste and recycling also joined the strike action, walking out in eight council areas for four days from August 26.
It comes after Unite members working in waste services at 13 councils walked out on Wednesday, joining workers in Edinburgh who began strike action on August 18.
Kirsten Muat, GMB Scotland organiser, said:
“Our members are not prepared for services to be delivered on the backs of the working poor.
“Our key workers deserved to be valued properly and ahead of a grim winter with forecasts of double-digit inflation and eye-watering energy bills, they urgently need pay that confronts this cost of living crisis.”
GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, Keir Greenaway, said: “GMB members are clear that they are not prepared to accept working poverty as an inevitability and their strike actions are a direct response to the failure of political leaders to realise this.”
Pat Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity union, commented: “I attended Stand-up for the bin workers – the show to support the bin workers strike fund. The mood was passionately in favour of the strike. As an Edinburgh resident the bin strike affects me. I’m 100 percent behind the strikers as are the vast majority of people here. It’s because we realise that the strikes are Just and necessary.”
Picture credit: KollectivFuture 2022. All rights reserved.
