Glasgow cleansing workers walk out over Covid health and safety fears

Matt Dobson reports

Glasgow City Council cleansing workers from nine depots walked out on September 7 and held a mass meeting outside the city chambers.

During the Covid-19 crisis, cleansing staff have been working reduced hours for full pay to protect their safety and allow social distancing in depots.

Now the SNP-led council, amidst re-imposed lockdown measures in the city, has demanded that their hours are increased.

The SNP council are taking an aggressive position, with a statement in the Glasgow Times threatening disciplinary action and calling the walkout an “illegal strike” as they also did when cleansing workers famously took solidarity action during the 48 hour equal pay strike in 2018.

Hinting at further action against workers, they said: “Anyone involved in this illegal industrial strike leaves themselves open to disciplinary measures.”

Socialist Party Scotland gives full support to workers taking action to protect health and safety. If the council management attempt to discipline workers the full weight of the workers’ movement should be mobilised in solidarity.

Glasgow cleansing workers walked out in March at the beginning of the pandemic over the lack of hand sanitiser in the workplace.

GMB Scotland stated: “The safety and well-being of our key workers and their families must be the priority here. It’s not safe for the council to phase-out coronavirus lockdown working arrangements at time when there is a resurgence of the virus in the city.

“It would be more far sensible to maintain the lockdown working arrangements for the time being and to have a proper consultation with service management about what the future will look like and how we can best deliver services in a safe and efficient manner. However, the issues facing the service pre-covid remain unchallenged by the council.”

“Glasgow has a waste crisis after a decade of cuts to the city’s budget and its services and we cannot expect to tackle this without meaningful investment.

“We need more resources.The message we’ll deliver to management in talks today is that we want to see a focus on co-operation, safety and investment. That’s what will give these key workers confidence their employer is prioritising their concerns and that’s what will tackle the city’s waste crisis.”

Chris Sermanni, Glasgow Unison Social Work Convenor, told us in a personal capacity: “In the current climate, trade unions have a heightened responsibility to ensure local authorities are doing everything in their power to make their workplaces as safe as possible, and must not allow workers to return until these measures are in place. 

“Even where measures have been implemented, trade unions must continue to monitor workplaces to ensure compliance. Any move to renege on previous agreements should be met with resistance, as even small changes can have an enormous impact on safety”

“Across the country, the economic impact of Covid is starting to bite. Capitalists are increasingly voicing their ‘back to work, business as usual’ mantra. Trade unions are at the forefront of the battle to ensure this is not at the expense of workers safety”