Glasgow's cleansing services are severely underfunded and every passing year brings new cuts. Overflowing bins, rampant flytipping and a booming rat population are now common sights across Scotlands biggest city. Residents and cleansing workers alike face unsanitary and even hazardous conditions in their streets and backcourts. When pressed for answers on the city's waste crisis, council leader Susan Aitken responded that Glasgow merely has ‘problematic patches’ which need a ‘spruce up’ in advance of COP26.
Residents and cleansing workers are uniting to say enough is enough. No more quick fixes. No more half measures. The city needs investment. As COP26 is set to put a global spotlight on Glasgow this November, residents and council workers will be taking action to hold Susan Aitken's administration to account.
Members of Living Rent, Scotland's tenants union, are joining with members of GMB Scotland, the trade union representing Glasgow's cleansing workers, to demand investment from Glasgow City Council.
The residents and cleansing workers of Glasgow stand together in demanding:
- A reversal of the bulk uplift charge
- 100 new full time refuse collectors
- 100 new full time street sweepers
- The reintroduction of back court teams
- Greater enforcement and education to deal with flytipping
- A limit of 5% on agency workers
