Heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer? You may have to prepare for it to be a little stinky. That’s because the Scottish capital’s bin collectors have planned to go on strike during the major city-wide event.
This week, Scotland’s government waste and recycling workers voted to take industrial action over a pay dispute. The GMB and Unite unions said that the offer from government body COSLA was significantly less than what is deserved.
It’s not the first time this has happened. There was a huge backlog of uncollected trash all over Edinburgh during the 2022 Fringe Festival when bin workers went on strike for 12 days.
This year’s festival is happening from August 2 to August 26. Waste and recycling staff will walk out along with their peers in Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen. Brian Robertson, Unite’s branch secretary for Edinburgh, told the BBC: ‘We do not want to do it. We don’t want to make a mess of the festival – we made a mess of it two years ago.’
But he added that the action is ‘absolutely necessary’ in response to COSLA’s offer, unless the Scottish government amend it. He said: ‘We want the Scottish government to come to the table before we have to do it.
‘The vast majority of local government workers earn far less than the median wage in this city – many of them are working on less than £20,000 a year.’
A COSLA spokesperson said: ‘We are disappointed that industrial action is being contemplated by our unions and concerned that it appears to be targeted at waste services, once again raising potential public health risks.’
Did you see that this swanky zero-emission ferry is coming to the Isle of Wight?
Plus: This picturesque city has been voted the UK’s friendliest staycation.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.