Disruption to East and South Ayrshire bin collections appears set to continue after trade unions rejected the latest pay offer from COSLA.
Cosla say the deal offered is the highest in decades and is ‘as good as it gets’.
It means the strikes continue until Thursday, while Unite Scotland have also said that a second week long waste services strike will take place in both East and South Ayrshire between September 6 to 13.
North Ayrshire workers have also agreed to go out on strike next week too.
However, there will be no action taken by schools, catering and cleansing staff in Ayrshire.
GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Keir Greenaway said that the offer from Cosla did not meet their demand for a flat rate award,, claiming it would ‘feather the nests of service directors’ by giving higher earners a larger increase.
He said: “A flat rate award is a key demand from unions to ensure more consolidated money goes into the pockets of frontline workers and not the highest paid in our councils. COSLA knew this but instead tabled this offer as an across-the-board percentage rise that only feathers the nests of service directors.
“This was unacceptable to our local government committee members. It’s not credible that in the grip of the biggest cost-of-living crisis in forty years, and with inflation and energy bills soaring, a head of service gets four times the consolidated increase than a bin collector, cleaner or carer.”
Cosla said the offer was the largest pay deal for ‘decades’.
The organisation said the overall package was worth half a billion pounds, giving a five percent increase to all staff plus an additional cost of living payment to lowest paid employees.
Based on a 37-hour week no member of staff will get less than an additional £1925 and for those earning under £20,500 at least a £2,000 pay increase – for this year and also next year.
Councillor Katie Hagmann COSLA’s Resources spokesperson said:
“Council Leaders have said consistently throughout these negotiations that we absolutely value and are grateful to all of our local government workforce.
“It is perhaps only when waste starts piling up and there is the prospect of further disruption to life with school closures that others see the hidden value local government services deliver each and every day of the year in our towns, villages and cities.
“It is for this reason that we as employers have done everything possible to put the best offer we can to our workforce. But we are now at the absolute extremes of affordability and this is already an offer which is stretching our already stretched finances like never before.
“This year’s offer is significantly better and different to previous offers and would have helped to support our Council workforces across the country at this difficult time.
“Given our commitment as Employers to get to this point, we are disappointed that Trade Unions will not suspend planned strike action whilst they put this offer to members to allow workers to get back to doing what they do best, delivering high quality, essential services right across Scotland.
“My final point to the Trade Union colleagues is that we have done everything we possibly can to get to this stage and that this offer – which is still on the table – is as good as it gets.”
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