LABOUR are to blame for rubbish strewn-streets and overflowing bins in Edinburgh, a Scottish Government minister has said.
Waste workers in the capital walked out on Thursday August 18 in protest at a “derisory” and “pathetic” pay rise offer of 3.5%.
With the festivals still ongoing and thousands of visitors coming to the city, rubbish and litter have overtaken the tourist hotspot, and strikes are set to last until August 30.
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson, also the Edinburgh Central MSP, said residents “deserve better” as waste piles up and put the blame at the foot of the Labour-led council.
We told on Monday how former SNP Edinburgh council leader Adam McVey criticised the current administration for being “asleep at the wheel” during the crisis.
Cammy Day, the current Labour council leader, said that the Scottish Government needs to allow “more flexibility and fairer funding” as the dispute grows.
It comes as the SNP Edinburgh group passed a motion through the scrutiny committee demanding information on what advice Day was given before voting against a 5% rise and instead offering 3.5% last week.
Staff from 14 Scottish local authorities are set to walk out over pay in areas including Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Highland, Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire and West Lothian.
Last week, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) offered a 5% pay increase to workers, an offer First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she hoped would resolve the dispute.
Robertson said the Labour-led council has “enough money” to offer the “reasonable” pay rise.
He said: “From the off, the council had enough money to cover a rise of over 4.5% without needing to look at other finance.
“Add to this a further payment of £140 million from the Scottish Government and Edinburgh Council had the lion’s share needed to take the pay rise offer to a reasonable 5%, the least our hard-working staff deserved.”
Robertson said the Labour administration, which has 13 seats out of a total of 64 – had relied on the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to pass their votes.
Day said his administration was “continuing to push hard for a resolution as quickly as possible”.
But he added: “We also need to carry on pressing the Scottish Government to give us more flexibility on how we use our resources and as well as providing fairer funding for our services.”
Negotiations are set to reconvene on Tuesday, but the unions have warned there is “insignificant detail” in the proposals so far and said the strikes would continue as planned.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland’s senior organiser, said union members wanted “clarity from Cosla about whether this proposal comes with the assurance of a flat rate award, a key demand of the union pay claim”.
It comes as the SNP group on Edinburgh council passed an urgent motion calling on Day to explain what advice was provided to him ahead of Cosla meetings where the pay offers were voted on and details of meetings he had with trade unions and Cosla officials.
The motion also requested: “Details and information provided to the council leader by council officers on the affordability of a 5% pay offer and whether a 3.5% 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 by Cosla to help meet an increased pay offer.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We urge local authority and union representatives to come to an agreement to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.
“The Scottish Government is treating councils fairly and providing a real terms increase of 6.3% to local authority budgets this year, as well as providing an extra £140 million of funding on a recurring basis to support a higher pay award for council staff.”
