Councillors have called for a report on briefings given to the leader of Edinburgh City Council ahead of recent negotiations with trade unions amid claims his decision making resulted in bin strikes going ahead.
Cammy Day has come under criticism from the SNP group after he voted with other local Scottish Labour leaders in national negotiations to offer workers a 3.5 per cent pay increase – instead of the 5 per cent tabled by nationalist leaders at a meeting of council body Cosla on August 12.
Last Friday, one day after bin strikes began, a five per cent offer was agreed and details around how this could be distributed among the workforce was discussed at another meeting on Tuesday (August 23).
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Cosla said talks were "productive", however, the unions involved - Unite, GMB and Unison - confirmed an agreement is yet to be reached.
SNP councillor Kate Campbell, convener of the council's scrutiny committee, said: "These discussions should have taken place on day one of the strikes, if not well in advance. But because Labour council leaders voted for a derisory 3.5 per cent offer, we are now knee deep in rubbish before these talks are even taking place."
She tabled a last minute motion at the committee on Tuesday, which some councillors said they only received less than an hour before the meeting began, calling for an urgent briefing on information and advice given to the council leader ahead of the meetings on August 12 and 19.
The urgent briefing, which members voted, for will also contain details and minutes of any discussions Cllr Day had with trade unions and Cosla officials before the talks and information Cllr Day was given by council officers on the "affordability of a 5 per cent pay offer and whether a 3.5 per cent pay offer would have spent all of the available resources Edinburgh Council had in its budget, as well as those additional funds secured from the Scottish Government".
Cllr Campbell said: "I think it's important as the scrutiny committee that we are scrutinising that decision making. There's one person that goes from this council to Cosla leaders, that's the council leader and they represent all of us."
She added the council leader's decision to back 3.5 per cent "undoubtedly resulted in the strikes that we are experiencing a city right now".
Councillor Adam McVey, SNP, added: "Was there an understanding at that time that 3.5 per cent would lead to industrial action? We need to understand as councillors a bit more about the cost differentials of that."
Shortly after the meeting finished, Unite's City of Edinburgh Council branch tweeted it was "misinformation" to suggest an earlier agreement of five per cent would have avoided strikes, stressing it was a national dispute unable to be stopped by one council.
Conservative councillor Jo Mowat voted against the move, saying the convener was attempting to "influence a current decision".
She said: "That is not the remit of this committee - this committee scrutinises decisions that have been taken. We don't do scrutiny ahead of decision making, we do it after the event.
Cllr Mowat added: "I think this is a very politicised action today."
Councillor Katrina Faccenda, Labour, described the move as "opportunistic grandstanding from people who don't really show that much solidarity with workers".
And councillors were furious after only being sent the motion on the morning of the meeting.
Labour councillor Stephen Jenkinson said: "To have this motion presented to me as a councillor as this meeting started is frankly an abuse of the chair, I'm not happy at all."
Lewis Younie, Lib Dems, added: "I am quite disappointed that this has only come to us this morning after nine o'clock when we were meeting at 10.
"I'm not even sure if all members of GRBV received this at the same time, I believe it might even have been a staggered release which is also a bit concerning."
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