East Dunbartonshire Council workers vote for strike action in austerity row

Council workers in East Dunbartonshire have voted overwhelmingly for strike action over the authority's latest instalment of asuterity shame''. Three-quarters of GMB members who took part in an industrial ballot backed taking strike action, with the turnout for the vote 97%.

The union says it now has a clear legal mandate for workers delivering services such as bin collections, street cleaning and home care to down tools.

The union claimed the dispute was sparked by the local authority - which is run by a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition - cutting three days from staff annual leave and reducing redundancy benefits.

GMB Scotland organiser Hazel Nolan said: Our members are sick and tired trying to make ends meet while doing more for less and this latest instalment of austerity shame is the final straw.

The Tories and Lib Dems have rode roughshod over the recognised trade union bargaining forums and played gutter politics for the last six months to try and pick over £1 million from the pockets of their employees.

I doubt any of them have a clue about what it's like working on the bottom rungs of local government pay nor will they understand the importance of these terms and conditions to our members and their families.

Against the backdrop of a really unequal pay offer for Scottish local government workers this year, the message to this out-of-touch council could not be clearer: Enough is enough.''

Ms Nolan said the GMB would re-enter negotiations with the council if they recognise the vital contribution our members make to local services and step-back from this shameful cash grab on hard-pressed staff''.