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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Stuart Gillespie

Dumfries and Galloway Council draws up contingency plan ahead of potential bin collectors strike

Dumfries and Galloway Council is drawing up a contingency plan to deal with bin collectors going on strike.

Waste workers are set to walk out next month, meaning household refuse may not be collected during an eight day period.

Members of the Unite union have opted to strike due to a dispute with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) over pay, although a new offer was made yesterday.

A council statement said: “We are expecting disruption to our household kerbside collections across the region between 6am on Tuesday, September 6 and 6am on Wednesday, September 14 due to strike action by Unite members.

“Bulky uplifts and commercial waste collection may be impacted, too.

“At this moment, no other council services will be affected and we are actively looking at contingency plans to minimise disruption.

“This is part of a national pay dispute affecting local authorities across Scotland. Discussions are ongoing between council leaders, trade unions and the Scottish Government with a view to agreeing a pay deal and resolving the dispute.”

Strike action was announced in Dumfries and Galloway and 18 other council areas across Scotland after Unite’s local government committee knocked back COSLA’s improved five per cent pay offer.

Bin workers in some local authority areas are already on strike but this will be the first time staff in Dumfries and Galloway have taken action over the dispute.

Unite industrial officer Wendy Dunsmore said: “The politicians need to get a grip of this situation which they have let happen due to their politicking and stalling.

“It’s time for the politicians to realise the gravity of this dispute and take responsibility before this situation dramatically escalates.”

Members of both the Unison and GMB unions in Dumfries and Galloway also voted for industrial action after rejecting the offer but did not meet the required turnout rate for strike action in the region.

Talks between COSLA, trade unions and the Scottish Government continued over the weekend in a bid to resolve the issue with a new offer made on Monday morning.

COSLA’s resources spokeswoman and Mid Galloway and Wigtown West Councillor Katie Hagmann said: “We remain in intense active discussions with our trade union colleagues.”

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