Edinburgh refuse strike nearing close after violent turn

Council leader Jenny Dawe has said negotiations between trade unionists representing Edinburgh's refuse workers and council bosses are "nearing a compromise".

After more than four months of "work-to-rule" strike action, the local council has met with a series of focus groups and made an offer to 274 refuse workers.

Cllr Dawe said: "From our point of view, the agreement proposed [to street cleaners] delivers what we want to deliver. I hope that we are nearing a compromise situation that suits everyone."

The meeting was followed by the council's decision to repay wages which had been "unreasonably" witheld from workers. Pay was initially docked after workers were deemed to have only worked a "partial performance".

A council spokesperson said: "There has been a period during the dispute when a small number of refuse collectors only performed a small proportion of the work they were scheduled to undertake. They were therefore not paid for that day."

A portion of workers had claim wages for sick days, the honesty of some submissions was doubted by bosses.

The spokesperson continued: "All of these cases are being investigated and will be heard in accordance with the appropriate procedures. Additionally, all cases were reviewed to ensure all action taken was reasonable."

The council is also investigating reports that strikers have been acting abusively towards supervisors. It was also reported that many refuse staff turned up to last week's meeting and shouted abuse at the union leaders.

Labour councillor Gordon Munro said: "They need to sit down with the union representatives. They represent the views of all of the workforce. They can have all the focus groups in the world but it won't lead to a full conclusion on this thorny issue."

The latest negotiations come after relations flared between strikers and private workers, when a private bin man was attacked near the city's Scotsman Steps last week.

The man, who has been working an evening shift for Assist Recruitment—the private company employed to deal with the work build-uo—was giving two men directions when they turned on him and beat him to the ground.