Perspective: When the next strikes will hit the Highlands and what is driving them as unions hold firm over pay for frustrated Council, Royal Mail, BT and Openreach staff
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Council waste and recycling staff returned to work yesterday after going out on strike just over a week ago, leaving many areas without their bins being emptied, streets not cleaned and recycling centres closed.
It was the latest in a series of walkouts over pay and conditions that have convulsed the Highlands, causing not insignificant disruption to transport, waste, postage and internet services.
So who is taking industrial action, what is behind it, what is being done to resolve it, how long can the strikes continue and what can we expect next?
Will there be more strikes?
The short answer is – yes, almost certainly, unless deals on pay and conditions can be reached across a number of different sectors and unions.
Highland Council staff belonging to the Unite union will walkout again between September 6-19 while GMB members plan industrial action between September 7-10.
For now, Highland Council is not among the local authorities in Scotland that are expecting industrial action by staff in schools.
Royal Mail Group staff will also come out again on September 8-9 amid a war of words between the company the Communication Workers Union (CWU) that is growing more bitter by the day.
The CWU is also backing BT and Openreach staff who have already walked out twice – first from July 29 to August 1 and then from August 30 to 31.
What is behind it?
Bottom line: the cost of living crisis. Stagnating wages combined with soaring costs mean that people are struggling or are unable to pay for essentials despite being in full time employment as inflation is now at 10.1 per cent.
Some of the striking workers in the Highlands told us that their wages were as low as £18,000 a year so based on a basic income tax calculation someone on £18,000 would take home £16,126.
But given the average energy bill will top £3500 from October that equates to a take home pay packet of £12,626 a year or about £1052 a month and does not include items like Council Tax, mortgages, rent, food, other essentials or socialising far less going on holiday.
What is being done to end the industrial action?
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was due to meet council leaders and trade unions this afternoon in the hopes of breaking the deadlock regarding the refuse workers but there was no word from the Scottish Government on what she might propose.
Earlier, a pay offer that the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) claimed was around five per cent was rejected out of hand by unions so no real progress to ending the work stoppage has been made.
The negotiations between the CWU and the Royal Mail Group – when they happen at all – are more fraught and are mired in allegation and counter allegation about which side is unwilling to meet.
Terms and conditions of employment play at least as large a role as pay in this dispute amid fears that what is being put to staff would soon make their jobs all but “impossible” while the company says it needs to remodel its business.
Nor has there been any major developments in the stand-off with BT and Openreach staff over their demands for more money but should internet access be impeded due to strike action both sides would come under the most enormous pressure to resolve the situation.
How long can the strikes continue?
Industrial action could be lengthy and damaging particularly if the Trades Union Congress (TUC) agrees to motions calling for coordinated strike action at its meeting later this month.
There is no sign the unions or the staff are willing to accept the offers that have been tabled so far and there also appears little appetite from the authorities or the companies involved to improve their proposals so they could last a long time.
The balance of any industrial action is how much pressure can it apply without losing public support for the aims of strikers but if that is lost then it will largely depend who is blamed for the industrial action.
