AROUND 8000 Unison and GMB members are expected to take part in a strike on Tuesday and Wednesday in Glasgow which will close schools and impact home care services for the elderly.
City leaders have warned of the “significant impact” to local services, with school support staff, nursery staff, school administration workers, home carers, cleaners, caterers and other council staff all planning to take part.
Trade union members are fighting an equal pay dispute, and have denied the strike has any political motivation, strongly rebutting claims the campaign escalated when the SNP defeated Labour to take control of Glasgow City Council in 2017.
Yesterday it emerged that the council had asked trade unions to provide enough staff to provide “life and limb” staff cover to allow for a reduced service to be delivered to older people who receive home care support.
However in a statement the council confirmed that they are now writing urgently to “many of the most vulnerable people in the city to tell them that we now have no way to provide them care they desperately need”.
The council told the Evening Times newspaper that they had asked trade unions to provide 360 staff to ensure basic services are available during the strike, but that by Friday only 91 staff had indicated that they were willing to work, including non-union staff who would have been working in any case.
Early years establishments, additional support for learning schools and mainstream primary schools are expected to close on Tuesday and Wednesday, with mainstream secondary schools to open on both days.
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