City centre binmen go on strike

Traders should not put waste out, and people are asked to use rubbish bins

Dundee binmen and street cleaners are taking industrial action, which means the city centre will not be cleaned until Monday.

The action centres on a decision to change the rate staff are paid for working on Sundays and public holidays from double time to time and a half.

The Unite union said the lowest paid staff stand to lose up to £400 a year.

The council said it had told the union that it would not revert to paying voluntary overtime at double time.

The spokesman added: "Our budget was fixed unanimously by the council and the savings through overtime have already been used to ensure there was no increase in the council tax."

Staff at the city centre waste management depot are striking on Saturday, and there will also be no cleaning on Sunday because workers are staging an overtime ban.

'Hitting households'

Colin Coupar, from the Unite union, said the action was "designed to leave a mess on Monday morning for elected members and council chief officials going to their work in the city chambers".

"They will hopefully get the message that you're not talking to us so we're making a bit of a noise here and hope that you now will start talking to us," he said.

"If no-one wants to listen and councillors don't want to hear us then we'll have to shout louder and by that I mean we have to escalate the action.

"That would result in a series of selected strikes which inevitably, and hopefully no time soon, would have to start hitting households in the city."

The council has advised city centre traders not to put out any waste and the public has been asked to use rubbish bins to keep the area tidy.

The local authority apologised for any inconvenience and said normal service would resume on Monday.