THE number of cleansing workers in Glasgow has been cut again from last year.
On day three of our Spotlight series into how clean the city is after Time Out magazine named it as the third dirtiest in the world, we look at the resources in place to keep the streets clean.
According to the Glasgow Times, the current 2022 figure for cleansing and street cleaning staff is 1080.
Last year the number was 1114, which is a reduction of 34.
The staff are broken down into 547 in refuse, who deal with the bin collections, 106 in waste disposal at the depots and recycling, and 427 in street scene.
The number in refuse is a cut of 51 workers since last year, when there was 598, while the street clean team increased by seven from 420 and the waste disposal staff increased by 10 from 96.
Council statistics show the number of staff working in street cleansing had dropped by 20% between 2016 and 2021.
The workers keeping the city streets clean had reduced by 107, over five years, from 527 to 420.
On the cut in refuse workers, a spokesperson for the council said: “This is an appropriate figure for our current service provision.
“We have been reviewing collection routes with the help of more accurate data and this has allowed us to introduce more efficient routes within our service."
The council has also committed to spending £2m on a series of deep cleans across the city, targeting litter, graffiti and fly-tipping.
Union leaders say there is a waste crisis in the city which needs more investment, not cuts.
GMB cleansing members in the city have recently voted in favour of industrial action over pay.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser, said: “Glasgow has a waste crisis, but you can’t cut your way out of a crisis, you must invest.
"Put simply, waste and recycling needs more full-time staff and more resources to support the workers delivering this statutory service, something GMB members have campaigned relentlessly for.
“We make no apologies for this, because if you are downplaying the scale of the problem then you aren’t standing up for the city and its communities.
“The first step in addressing any problem is by recognising there is one, and the service, much like the city itself, has been hammered by over a decade of ruinous austerity.
“So, if Glasgow’s political leaders genuinely want clean and green communities, then they must find their voice by telling government that the city cannot stomach further cuts, and that it needs serious investment in its key services and the people needed to deliver them.”
