Bin strike averted as the public purse strains

Planned strike action by waste and cleansing workers has been suspended as unions put a new pay offer to members for a vote. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

It is good news for most that the bin strike that threatened to plunge most of Scotland back into the big pong of summer 2022 was averted.

Good news, that is, apart for the Scottish Government which has been forced to find what it stressed was the unfindable - the money required to bring about a new pay deal for refuse and cleansing workers.

Where the money will be moved from is not yet clear as government bowed to the pressure of unions within just 48 hours of the planned striked in 26 out of 32 local authorities.

Now, we can be spared the rotten scenes of litter piling up in the streets witnessed two summers ago when a 12-day strike forced Public Health Scotland to declare a health warning .

Embarrassment was particularly felt in the capital when 400,000 visitors descended during festival season as bins overflowed, litter blew through the air and seagulls entered some sort of nirvana. This was one ugly advertisement to the world.

The proposed deal will see a 3.6% increase for all grades of staff, with a rise of £1,292 for the lowest paid, equivalent to 5.63%.

Unions are rightly delighted they have achieved their aim to bring better living and working conditions, particularly to their least well off members.

It is a settlement that brings above inflation increases for workers for the first time in years.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison warned that an earlier offer was at the "absolute limit of affordability" - before increasing its value yesterday.

But as the government capitulates, unions across the land will be emboldened to hold out to the wire while the public purse continues to fray

Those representing workers on ScotRail - along with colleagues from Caledonian Sleeper - who have recently voted for strike action as timetables strain, are next to challenge public finance and pay.

While the pong of a bin strike looks to have been averted, the challenges of high-stakes industrial unrest look set to long linger.