East Dunbartonshire waste strike cancelled

Bin men in East Dunbartonshire have called off strike action scheduled for this weekend.

It follows days of negotiations between trade unions and the council.

A work to rule remains in place after the row over redundancies and a reduction in the amount of annual leave.

John Gallacher, Scottish Organiser, UNISON, said:

“The significant industrial action taken by union members in East Dunbartonshire and the co-ordinated approach between UNISON, UNITE and GMB has made the council reverse its previous position on cuts to core conditions of service for all staff.

“Talks continue to seek to resolve the last piece of the jigsaw, the redundancy scheme, to enable us next week to call off all the industrial action and return all council services to normal working. This is significant progress and hopefully, with Depute Chief Executive Ann Davie, we can finish the job next week.”

Kenny Jordan, Unite industrial officer, said:

“This eleventh hour development is a significant victory for common sense and will be to the relief of East Dunbartonshire residents. However, the fact that an overtime ban remains in place shows the determination of our members that the matter is not yet fully resolved and will not be until the council see further common sense and sensibly discuss preservation of reasonable severance packages.”

GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan said:

“This is a victory for trade union solidarity. Our members led from the front to defend their interests while councillors who bulldozed through these cuts tried to duck their responsibilities.

“We still have some road to travel to restore our members’ full redundancy entitlements but if the council do the right thing in these negotiations, then the threat of any future industrial action will be lifted. The ball is very much in their court.

“Last night’s climb-down should send out a clear message that the rights of our members must be respected and that after ten years of austerity, ‘enough is enough’ of council cuts.”