Alastair Grant/AP Photo
Union members decry the hypocrisy in the Scottish government’s goal of shifting to sustainable waste management while cutting funding for processing and failing to adequately pay workers.
As thousands of world leaders and negotiators descended on Glasgow for the COP26 climate conference, a wave of planned strikes threatened to halt train service across the country and leave the streets strewn with refuse. After months of stalling from the Scottish government and private employers, Scottish rail workers, bin workers, school employees, and others planned massive strike actions across the country to take place during the conference.
The workers are seeking increased pay and improved working conditions, including the restoration of public services that have been cut due to austerity. “We hope that the industrial action will help shape negotiations and possibly increase the offer because of the high-profile situation and the impact this has on the city,” said Sean Baillie, regional organizer for GMB, a union of bin workers, who collect and process refuse and recyclables. The Scottish government narrowly avoided some of the strikes through a new offer on October 29th just before COP26 began, but GMB members and some railway workers have still been taking action during the conference.
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These union workers are the backbone of sectors that will play a key role in the transition away from fossil fuels. GMB members have pointed to the hypocrisy in the Scottish government’s goal of shifting to sustainable waste management while cutting funding for waste processing and failing to adequately pay the workers who do it. The government has also championed the railway system as a key part of reducing emissions—also while cutting service, closing stations, and firing workers.
For 18 months, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the largest employer in Scotland, stonewalled workers on a new pay deal that should have been settled last April, when the old contract ran out. Just over one-third of local government workers in Scotland earn less than £25,000 (roughly $35,000), while the national average wage is £32,000. UNISON, Unite, and the GMB, the unions representing workers employed by the local authorities, were seeking a pay increase to keep up with inflation, which, across Scotland, is driving up the price of housing, food, and fuel. “It’s going to be a cold winter without a pay rise,” said Wendy Dunsmore, Regional Officer for Unite in Glasgow.
GMB workers were also striking over poor working conditions, including outdated and unsafe waste processing facilities where, workers on the picket line said, they’d encountered smashed windows, exposed wiring, and asbestos. Workers have also raised complaints over cuts to service, forcing them to manage larger volumes of waste in shorter shifts.
Union representatives say that COSLA had ample time to avoid strike action during COP26, as the unions had begun pushing for pay negotiations back in January. Less than 72 hours before the start of the conference, COSLA made a new offer that led UNISON and Unite to postpone their planned strikes while they consulted their members. The new offer proposed a pay hike of 5.8 percent for the lowest-paid workers as part of a £1,062 increase for all staff earning less than £25,000. Unions had previously pressed for a £2,000 increase.
Abellio ScotRail, a Dutch company that franchises Scotland’s rail system, also avoided a strike by RMT, the rail workers union, with a new offer on October 29th. ScotRail accepted RMT’s “final position” proposal, which included a 2.5 percent pay increase backdated to April 1, 2021, and further talks next April. “If it was not for COP26 then I’m absolutely convinced no offer would have actually been made to RMT or the local authority unions,” said Michael Hogg, regional organizer for RMT.
Abellio ScotRail denied workers a pay increase in 2020, citing the pandemic, which fueled frustration among employees who served as frontline workers. “Workers went above and beyond the call of duty during the height of the pandemic, yet the rail workers got kicked in the teeth by an unscrupulous employer who did not care about the workforce,” said Hogg.
Rail workers represented by RMT on the Caledonian Sleeper train, which is operated by the British company Serco, went on strike October 31st through November 2nd, and November 11th through the 13th, halting overnight train service across the country and impacting visitors who’ve come to Scotland for the conference. On Friday, RMT members returned a ballot mandate for another six months of strike action due to unsatisfactory offers from Serco. Caledonian Sleeper workers are asking for the same deal offered by ScotRail to RMT workers.
Inside the conference, just a few miles from some of the depots where bin workers are striking, union representatives told the Prospect that working-class concerns were being sidelined. Union leaders emphasized that climate justice must include pay justice to allow workers to adapt to new energy sources, even beyond the carbon-intensive industries. Dave Moxham, deputy general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, also pointed out that sustainable climate policy must include reliable public transport. Glasgow’s bus system is one of the most expensive in the U.K. and is currently inaccessible for many families in poverty.
Unions are formally included in COP26 through the Trade Union Caucus, but Moxham emphasized the limits of their involvement. “It’s generally accepted that most of the serious business of the COP is undertaken by world leaders in negotiations that happen at a level that it’s very hard for the trade union movement to reach,” he said.
But outside the conference, climate activist groups and international trade unions have visited the bin workers’ picket line in shows of solidarity. Baillie said the picket line unexpectedly became a place where low-paid blue-collar workers met white-collar activists in the climate movement. “There have been a lot of relationships built and conversations had that never would have happened if this strike hadn’t been on,” he said.
As of November 12th, GMB and Unite’s members have voted to approve COSLA’s latest offer in a nationwide vote. GMB had recommended its members reject the offer, while Unite recommended acceptance. UNISON’s consultation period is ongoing. But Dunsmore noted that while members had accepted the current deal, Unite would keep the pressure on COSLA and the Scottish Government as the union prepares for pay negotiations in 2022. In Unite’s November 12 press release, she said, “This should be a warning shot to both COSLA and the Scottish Government that for too long there has been a reliance on local government workers putting up with little or no pay rises, and this has to stop.”
