Second union votes for strikes during world cycling event in Glasgow

Paul Cargill, PA Scotland
·3 min read

A second union has announced that members who work in council parking services in Glasgow are set to strike next month during an international cycling event.

Unite Scotland has said parking wardens it represents will join GMB members from parking services at Glasgow City Council who have also backed industrial action for August 3 when the UCI World Cycling Championships arrives in Scotland.

The GMB has warned that the sporting event could face disruption because of the strike action.

Members employed by Glasgow Life at the Emirates Arena, the venue for this year’s Indoor World Cycling Championships, are also prepared to walk out of work next month, according to the union.

A spokesperson said about 70 members employed by Glasgow Life and City Parking have voted to take industrial action – almost 92% of the Glasgow Life members balloted and 100% of City Parking members.

The union has also warned thousands more of its members may be prepared to strike later this year in response to local government leaders’ latest pay offer.

GMB Scotland said 95% of a ballot of about 60 members in parking services at Glasgow City Council had also backed industrial action for August 3.

The union warned the mandate for industrial action threatens city-wide disruption during the World Cycling Championships when illegally parked cars could hamper cyclists and obstruct road races.

It all comes after unions rejected the latest pay offer that local government leaders at Cosla said amounts to a 5.5% pay increase.

Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “City Parking and Glasgow Life workers have delivered a clear mandate that they are willing to stand up for workers across Scotland’s councils. They all deserve a fair pay award.”

Unite Scotland’s industrial officer, Graham McNab, added: “This is a clear warning to Cosla. Their 5% offer fails on so many fronts, but worst of all is it fails those who are the lowest paid in local authorities.

“Just like last year, we are calling on the Scottish Government to get involved now to assist getting Cosla back around the table with a new, meaningful offer before more workers vote to take action.”

GMB Scotland senior organiser for public services, Keir Greenaway, said: “The overwhelming support for industrial action among our members in parking services should come as no surprise after they were offered a pay rise so far below the rate of inflation during an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis.

“The World Cycling Championships should be an opportunity to showcase our country around the globe and to risk it being disrupted by failing to properly recognise the work of our members is an appalling act of self-harm by our council leaders.

“When it was clear Cosla were unable, or unwilling, to negotiate a fair pay rise, we urged the Scottish Government to get involved to fund an improved offer. That intervention is even more urgently needed now.”

A Glasgow Life spokesperson said: “Following confirmation of strike action by GMB and Unite we are looking at how this may impact our delivery of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships and where we can put contingency plans in place to mitigate against such action.”

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Peloton shows everything doesn't need to be a subscription: Morning Brief

    Peloton isn't profitable as a subscription business, but it looks different as a media company.

  • Canada gets another chance at world para hockey title at home

    CALGARY — Canada's para hockey team gets another swing at winning a world championship on home ice. Canada hosted the world para hockey championship for the first time in 2023 in Moose Jaw, Sask., where the home team took the silver medal behind the United States. The 2024 edition at Calgary's WinSport Arena, where the Canadians open against Japan on Saturday, provides more familiar territory. "There's just so much gratitude to have the opportunity to play on home ice at a world championship bac

  • MORNING BID AMERICAS-Jobs test Fed relief, Apple buyback bump

    A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan The strength of the U.S. labor market will give Wall Street's interest rate relief a reality check on Friday, but Apple's monster share buyback has buoyed the market in advance. The world's second biggest company by market capitalisation wowed the gallery overnight with a whopping $110 billion stock buyback program - the biggest in the iPhone maker's history - and upped its dividend by 4% after a modest first quarter earnings beat.

  • Time almost up for SC taxpayers to get their share of $12.5M, IRS says. Here’s how to get yours

    The deadline is nearly here for South Carolina taxpayers to claim their share of $12.5 million, the IRS says. Here’s what to know.

  • The Watch Market Continued to Slow Down in Q1: Report

    The ChronoPulse Watch Index suggests that the market is finally cooling off, and maybe stabilizing.

  • Tommy Dorfman confirms secret marriage

    Tommy Dorfman secretly eloped with her partner Elise last year.

  • Halle Berry declares she's in menopause on steps of US Capitol

    The actress, 57, joined a group of senators to push for legislation that would give $275million (£219.4million) toward research and education for menopause. "I'm in menopause, OK? The shame has to be taken out of menopause. We have to talk about this very normal part of our life that happens. Our doctors can't even say the word to us, let alone walk us through the journey." The Catwoman star told how she was initially given a false diagnosis of Herpes, before finally discovering that she was in perimenopause.

  • Top US Treasury official to travel to Singapore, Malaysia to discuss sanctions

    The U.S. Treasury Department's top sanctions official will travel to Singapore and Malaysia next week, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Washington seeks to combat funding for Iran and its proxy groups as well as evasion of its sanctions on Russia. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there has been an uptick in money moving to Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, through the Malaysian financial system. During the visit, first reported by Reuters, Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, is expected to discuss U.S. concerns and the sanctions risk such activity poses, the source said.

  • South Carolina baseball wants to host NCAA super regional. Here’s how to make it happen

    The Gamecocks are currently ranked 15th with just over three weeks left in the season.

  • Cut waste and save money: A ‘marketplace for surplus food’ lets you eat at a discount

    We tried it ourselves: How to savor doughnuts, cookies and more for 50% off, while helping out local restaurants in the Charlotte area.

  • Meteors from famous Halley’s Comet to peak over SC soon. Here’s when and how best to watch

    A meteor shower generated by the famous Halley’s Comet will be most viewable over South Carolina soon. Here are the details.

  • Dannii Minogue 'identifies as queer'

    Pop star-turned-TV-presenter Dannii Minogue has declared she "identifies as queer" and insists she's learned a lot hosting new dating show 'I Kissed A Girl'.

  • Tom Chaplin riddled with paranoia at height of Keane fame

    Opening up about his younger years, during which he battled a cocaine addiction, Keane frontman Tom Chaplin has admitted he was addled with paranoia at the height of his fame.

  • I’m dreading the arrival of summer shoes – how will I fancy my man in Birkenstocks?

    I regret to inform you that it’s nearly that time: the time when we have to think about summer shoes. Shoes that may reveal some, or really quite a startling amount of, foot. Shoes that we may wear without socks. Shoes that somehow carry us from morning to night without slowly poaching our toes. Shoes that won’t cause a passing child on the street to wince or start crying. The swifts will be here any minute, the smell of blackened chicken wing floats over the neighbour’s fence, and now we have t

  • Britney Spears won't pay spousal support to Sam Asghari

    Britney Spears won't have to pay spousal support to Sam Asghari after they agreed the terms of their divorce.

  • COVER UP! 10 world-famous songs you didn't realise had actually been done before

    JoJo Siwa recently attempted to enter her adult era with her single 'Karma' but hadn't mentioned that the power track was actually a cover. This light-hearted disco track became a staple of 1980s pop culture when Cyndi released it.

  • Britney Spears says paramedics turned up 'illegally' after twisting her ankle at Chateau Marmont

    Britney Spears has downplayed concerns about her health, after paramedics were called to the Chateau Marmont, a boutique hotel in LA. Photographs taken by paparazzi appeared to show Spears wearing pyjama shorts outside the hotel, while wrapped in a blanket and clutching a pillow.

  • John Lydon keeps wife's ashes by his bed

    Sex Pistols star John Lydon has revealed he keeps his wife Nora's ashes by the side of his bed so he can feel close to her.

  • Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas to star in Power Ballad

    Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas have been cast in the musical comedy 'Power Ballad'.

  • Google faces second day of closing arguments in US antitrust trial

    The U.S. government will lay out its antitrust case against Alphabet's Google on Friday in a second day of closing arguments focused on accusations that the online search leader broke the law to stay on top in search advertising. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on Thursday peppered both sides with questions seeking to better understand the case ahead of making a ruling. The Justice Department has hammered away at Google in a trial that started on Sept. 12, arguing the search engine giant is a monopolist and illegally abused its power to boost profits.