Dear All
All jobs are of value, some however have more status than others, some require more training and education than others and some just pay better. Through-out this country, there is a service which is critical to the public health, these people aren't Drs, educators or talked about unless they aren't there. The group of people that I speak of are those who go out in all weathers and do waste management, you collective know them as the 'bin men'. My first job at Glasgow University was as a 'womble', this was the name given to people who kept the main campus clean, the official title was precinct orderly. I did 6 weeks in that job before something better turned up, groundsman, same idea, keeping the campus looking nice. I have therefore experience and understanding of what being a bin man entails. During the summer months, the department would take on a few students to assist the grounds department, and you could find students from across the board, even medics. One medic student, I got talking too told me, his dad worked for STV, someone high up, which led me to ask couldn't he have found a temp slot in there. But his answer was vague about having to commit to something which would have ran in the back of his studies, and to be fair, I think he enjoyed a manual job.
The bin workers in Glasgow have a legitimate grievance, too few staff, too much work and too little pay and good conditions. The SNP Council in Glasgow has ran down the cleansing service much like pretty much all services that the council operates. We don't appreciate this until we find a service that directly impacts us personally, such as library closures. Libraries are essential services, because education is the best route out of poverty. Glasgow's council services are in crisis, the SNP sell the lie, that they are able to do more or the same with less resources. The truth is that cost cutting isn't about providing better services, it is to cover up that money has been diverted by the SNP Government elsewhere. Although a bin strike in Glasgow is an awful PR disaster for Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP run Council, having the fight now is just as good as any other time. Essential services like cleansing aren't treated as essential, this is because the SNP in Holyrood under Nicola Sturgeon don't give a monkey's about local government. Sturgeon is willing to strip financial resources out of the City of Glasgow. There comes a point when cutting and cutting can be done no more, I would suppose this decline is based on one idea, privatise as much of local government as possible. Privatise and give up the ability of oversight of services provided by the council, by reducing Councillors to only have input rather than control, why centralising power in the leader's office.
I support the bin workers in Glasgow who will proceed with strike action, I am not bothered that world leaders landing in the city centre for COP26 will see the City of Glasgow as it really is, a city in structural decline. Let them see the rubbish floating in the Clyde, let them see the fly tipping, let them see the overflowing bins. You can imagine that the SNP will already have a plan to call in private contractors to keep the city centre clean, Sturgeon and her proxy leader, Susan Aitken will want to keep up the illusion of a modern city. The fact is, once you look around the city, and then compare it to other cities, you will see other places in Europe and Far East fare much better in terms of economics, infrastructure, and quality of life. I grew up in the 1960's as a kid, My parents stayed in tenements in Oran Street and Gairbraid Place in Maryhill. In the 1970's as I became more aware of my surroundings, it was like living on a bomb site, destruction and decay was everywhere. Part of the problem was that plans for development were always small in nature. When I moved to Pollok in 1972, it would be 3 years before the Pollok Centre, opened by Princess Margaret would be opened. Today, on the Pollok Centre site stands Silverburn, but before that investment in Pollok was next to nil, the M77 allowed developers opportunities to make money. The developers certainly made money, but what about the opportunities and investment for residents? They got to continue in substandard housing, and I know that only too well, I lived in it. Coming from Pollok, getting a job wasn't easy, it was there was a postcode lottery and Pollok wasn't in it. Not enough kids made it too University or College, in many respects outlying areas of the City of Glasgow all had the same problem, lack of regeneration. Although I am talking about Pollok, places like Drumchapel are experiencing the same problems as they fight for services and infrastructure. Drumchapel is next door to Bearsden, the difference in quality of live is huge. Pollok is next door to Newton Mearns, the difference in quality of live is huge.
As the spotlight is turned on the mess that is Glasgow, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon who "represents" one of the worst ghettos in the city has spoken out about people, talking Glasgow down. Unlike Nicola Sturgeon, I was born in the City of Glasgow, I grew up in the City of Glasgow, and I lived through the worst times of the last 50 years. Sturgeon talking about people talking Glasgow down is a classic PR manoeuvre on many fronts;
1/ Invite you to think she cares.
2/ To dismiss the obvious neglect her and her gang have done.
3/ To try and corral your goodwill towards her.
Nicola Sturgeon is in no way a defender of Glasgow, she doesn't give a monkey's, political leaders of the left love representing areas of neglect to foster an illusion that the poor are the rest they got into politics when in reality, the area they are elected too sees no real improvements. The worst shite hole in the City of Glasgow is Govanhill, this is where Sturgeon and her election campaign manager Mhairi Hunter are based as politicians. You could argue that Hunter's real job is just Sturgeon's election campaign manager and the other responsibilities Cllr, Sturgeon assistant et al are just there to charge up her bank account, to give her a wage that normally she couldn't get outside politics. Govanhill dubbed Govanhell by residents is an utter disgrace, and if you listen to Sturgeon, you would think that as MSP and First Minister of Scotland, it has entire sweet FA to do with her. It is an area plagued by crime, benefit fraud, fly tipping, decay, rogue landlords, disease pre covid, infestation of bugs and rats.
Just when the planned strike action seemed to be at Def Con 1, it was called off after a new pay offer from council umbrella body Cosla. This led to the GMB saying it would suspend the strike for two weeks to consult with members. Things dtook a downward spirial when GMB Scotland secretary, Louise Gilmour, accused Glasgow City Council of having “failed to give our members the proper time and space to consider the 11th hour offer from Cosla”.
She added:
“Therefore, our members in cleansing have informed us that they will still proceed with the planned strike action from 00.01 hours Monday 1 November. We are calling for an urgent meeting with the council as soon as possible and we will work until one-minute to midnight tonight to try and fix this. We have also made the Scottish Government aware of the situation and are liaising with the First Minister’s Office, but without any further dialogue the cleansing service in Glasgow City Council will take strike action from tomorrow and throughout the first full week of the COP26 summit.”
Finally, if there is no action by the relevant parties to head this strike off at pass, then the delegates of Cop26 are in for a rare treat, some of them will marvel at how a city like Glasgow has been dragged into the gutter. This strike which will impact on SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and her 'job hunting' during Cop26. It will be a negative signpost for any future employer to note, showing that not only is Sturgeon incapable of leading, she also can't manage, or work as part of a team. Through-out this week, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has been trying to make out that she is officially part of Cop26 when she really isn't, the door is closed to her for access to the world stage. Her suddenly found eco credentials are just a smokescreen as she struggles to find a suitably interested party to consider her for employment in a post FM world. Rather than trying to impress world leaders, she should try sucking up to her replacement once she steps down, if that turns out to be Joanna Cherry, I doubt her future prospects will rise above absolute zero. Given the way the SNP treated Alex Salmond, one cannot imagine that domestically in Scotland there is a place for her, so any chance to escape Scotland must be seized and seems to be her only hope.
Yours sincerely
George Laird The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
well said George you have hit it right on the nail.just hope Scotland reads your article and WAKES up.we have been getting conned for years. so keep up the good work.
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