Cleansing workers set strike dates as pay row heats up

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Waste looks set to pile up in the streets of East Renfrewshire as unions announce bin men and cleansing workers are set to strike.,NHS workers also look set to follow as a summer of discontent hits public services.Public sector workers' union Unison announced yesterday that waste workers will down tools on a string of dates during August and September, as a pay row intensifies.Workers, who battled on to continue waste services throughout the pandemic, have been angered by the pay deal tabled by Scottish councils' umbrella body the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our newsletters here.GMB bosses say their members will also down tools on the same dates.CoSLA - which negotiates local government pay on behalf of councils - has offered a two per cent increase, which unions say is "derisory" and represents a real-terms pay cut for workers as the cost of living rockets and inflation soars.Unite have also announced that their workers in Scotland's NHS have rejected a five per cent pay deal on offer.Some 89 per cent of the union's members working in the NHS backed strike action in a consultative ballot over whether to reject the Scottish Government's offer.Unison has announced it will also canvas 50,000 NHS worker members for strike action in a ballot set to open in October.Meanwhile, Unison has served notice on eight councils, including East Renfrewshire, that their members will take action.They have outlined a list of dates, beginning with a four day action from August 26 until 29, to kick off their protest.Renfrewshire Live, the new free app dedicated to bringing you around the clock breaking news, is now available to download.Powered by the