PONG HOT SUMMER

Swinney urged to give councils more cash for waste and recycling workers

- ANDREW QUINN

SCOTLAND faces a "stinking summer" as a wave of bin strikes are set to hit the country.

The Unite and GMB unions rejected a 3.2 per cent pay offer to workers from local authority body Cosla following meetings yesterday.

Fellow trade union Unison voted to reject the same offer last week.

Last night, Unite industrial officer Graham McNab said "A stinking Scottish summer looms unless Cosla and the Scottish Government quickly sort this out by injecting more cash into a new offer."

The rejection of the offer means waste and recycling workers and street cleaners are set to walk out across most Scottish councils.

Unite has warned that "we are on the brink of nationwide strike action which could last for months".

While the GMB said the offer "only insults the intelligence of our members."

The unions said no "extra cash" has been added to the new pay offer by Cosla.

The body offered a 3.2 per cent increase for a one-year period between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.

The unions said Cosla has taken two months to shift from its previous offer, which was also rejected outright by Unite on May 24.

Unite has strike mandates in 16 councils and is reballotting in five others.

GMB has mandates in 13 local authorities and is reballoting in six others.

The unions have said the new pay offer is lower than other parts of the UK.