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Glasgow strike: council leader attacks unions over equal pay walkout Glasgow refuse workers walk out in support of cleaners' pay strike
(about 2 hours later)
The leader of Glasgow city council has accused union leaders of mounting an unnecessary strike over equal pay which has closed the city’s primary schools, nurseries and other services. Hundreds of male refuse workers in Glasgow have taken part in unofficial strike action to support a two-day stoppage by 8,000 mostly female cleaners in a long-running dispute over equal pay.
Susan Aitken said the two-day strike by more than 8,000 mostly female employees would “have a devastating impact and there is no need for it”. About 600 refuse staff, street cleaners and road workers refused to cross picket lines at depots across the city after cleaners and care workers launched a 48-hour strike that closed schools and nurseries across the city.
The strike began at 7am on Tuesday after years of legal disputes between unions and Glasgow council over the underpayment of staff in female-dominated roles such as cleaning, with employees earning up to £3 an hour less than those in male-dominated ones such as bin collections. The walkout is thought to be the largest ever in the UK over pay inequality. The stoppage followed years of legal disputes and industrial action involving the cleaners, their unions and Glasgow city council over the underpayment of about 12,000 staff in female-dominated roles dating back more than a decade.
Thousands of women are pursuing equal pay claims against the council after the court of session, Scotland’s civil court, ruled in their favour last year. The GMB and Unison picket lines were set up outside the city chambers on George Square and other sites, including refuse depots. They were paid up to £3 an hour less than council staff in male-dominated but broadly equivalent roles such as bin collecting and street sweeping. Some estimates suggest they are owed hundreds of millions of pounds in back pay.
Police Scotland said it was called to two picket lines to offer “advice and guidance” to protesters after, in at least one incident at a depot in Shieldhall, city council staff complained that entrances were being blocked. Police also went to a primary school on Baltic Street. The cleaning staff and road workers are expected to refuse to work again on Wednesday. Council officers said that meant the city’s bins would remain unemptied and streets unswept until Thursday at the earliest.
The strike is thought to be the largest yet in the UK over equal pay. Susan Aitken, the council leader, said it would “have a devastating impact and there is no need for it”.
Rhea Wolfson, a GMB Scotland union organiser, said the city’s previous Labour administration was to blame for the original pay inequality at the centre of the dispute. However, city officials were now obstructing a manifesto promise by the Scottish National party-run council to settle 12,000 outstanding pay claims.
There had been 21 meetings this year but no meaningful progress, Wolfson said, and she urged Aitken to end the impasse. “Equal pay is not a gift to be given, it is a right for our members to demand,” she said. “At the moment 8,000 of our members have gone on strike today because they have lost faith that that demand is going to be met.”
Several thousand strikers and their supporters marched on Monday morning to George Square in front of Glasgow city chambers for a short rally organised by the GMB and Unison unions.
Aitken told BBC Radio Scotland progress was being made in the talks and the council had brought many jobs at the centre of the dispute back under full council control –  they were previously with the arm’s-length body Cordia – and had now harmonised pay.
“We’re working towards an agreed settlement by the end of this year [and] not any sort of lowball offer,” she said. Council officials said no new talks were scheduled, although approaches to both the GMB and Unison, the other union involved in the dispute, were expected in coming days.
Police Scotland said its officers were called to two picket lines to offer “advice and guidance” to protesters after, in at least one incident, at a depot in Shieldhall, council staff complained that entrances were being blocked. Police also went to a primary school on Baltic Street.
A police spokeswoman said: “Officers have attended a number of protests across Glasgow today. Advice and guidance has been given and there has been no issues and no arrests.”A police spokeswoman said: “Officers have attended a number of protests across Glasgow today. Advice and guidance has been given and there has been no issues and no arrests.”
Rhea Wolfson, a GMB Scotland union organiser, said the previous Labour administration in the city was to blame for the original pay inequality at the centre of the dispute. The strike provoked a public row between Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, and Jeremy Corbyn, the UK Labour leader, after Corbyn and Richard Leonard, his party’s Scottish leader, tweeted messages of support for the strikers.
But city officials were now obstructing a manifesto promise by the Scottish National party-run council to settle 12,000 outstanding pay claims. There had been 21 meetings this year, with no meaningful progress, Wolfson said. Corbyn and Leonard offered solidarity with the women on strike and said “it’s our duty to support them.”
“It’s not just a show of frustration. It’s specifically triggered by the lack of progress over the last 11 months of meaningful negotiations,” she said. The strike, Wolfson said, was to pressurise Aitken into ending the impasse.
“Equal pay is not a gift to be given, it is a right for our members to demand. At the moment, 8,000 of our members have gone on strike today because they have lost faith that that demand is going to be met.”
Aitken told BBC Radio Scotland progress was being made in the talks and that the council had brought many jobs at the centre of the dispute, previously with the arm’s-length body Cordia, back under full council control and had now harmonised pay.
“We’re working towards an agreed settlement by the end of this year [and] not any sort of low-ball offer,” she said.
Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, weighed in on the row on Twitter after taking issue with tweets of solidarity to the strikers from Jeremy Corbyn, the UK Labour leader, and Richard Leonard, the party’s Scottish leader.
Sturgeon said that while she admired the women on strike, she believed Labour were to blame for taking the dispute to court in the first place to prevent the women from claiming equal pay.
Corbyn had earlier tweeted his support for the strike and retweeted endorsements from Leonard.
I send my solidarity to women council workers in Glasgow who go on strike today to demand equal pay.They are the carers, cleaners and caterers who are society's unsung heroes.When they go on strike, it's our duty to support them. #GlasgowWomensStrikeI send my solidarity to women council workers in Glasgow who go on strike today to demand equal pay.They are the carers, cleaners and caterers who are society's unsung heroes.When they go on strike, it's our duty to support them. #GlasgowWomensStrike
The industrial action was also backed by Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, and Scottish TUC leaders. Sturgeon said she felt contempt for Labour since it was a Labour-run council that had tried to block the equal pay claim in court.
The campaign group Action 4 Equality estimates settling the outstanding claims could cost between £500m and £1bn. Those figures are disputed by the council, but Aitken has admitted it could cause it financial problems and that the council has a financial strategy to settle those claims. While I wish the strike wasn’t happening, I have nothing but admiration for the women involved. However, I feel contempt for a Labour Party expressing solidarity now when, in power, they took these women to court to deny equal pay. @theSNP and @SusaninLangside are working to fix. https://t.co/nbUt33HWgE
“I believe [the unions] are misrepresenting the scale of progress which has been going on,” she added. “There’s negotiations taking place right now. [It is] extremely complex. There’s a huge amount of data but as I said, we have 30 people working full time on this in order to make progress. The campaign group Action 4 Equality estimates that settling the outstanding claims could cost between £500m and £1bn. Those figures are disputed by the council, but Aitken has admitted it could cause it financial problems and that the council has a financial strategy to settle those claims.
“We’ve bent over backwards to try to meet every demand that the trade unions have made. To be honest, I don’t believe their demands are strong enough to justify action of this scale.” Aitken said: “We’ve bent over backwards to try to meet every demand that the trade unions have made. To be honest, I don’t believe their demands are strong enough to justify action of this scale.”
Glasgow council has sent letters to those affected, informing them that the service they usually receive will be withdrawn for two days during the strike.
A spokeswoman added: “Rather than the reduced service we expected to be able to deliver with support from the trade unions; for many more people, there will now be no service at all. We are deeply concerned about the impact, but we have absolutely no alternative.”
Wolfson said unions had agreed to all council requests to support “life and limb” cover, adding the offer from union members to work through the strike to support vulnerable users needing home care still stands.
“The council’s officers have been incapable of putting in place the most basic cover despite having three weeks to prepare and the offers we have made every single day to resolve the dispute,” she said.
“Our members work for some of the most vulnerable elderly and disabled people in our community and we would never do anything that could cause them harm.”
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