Glasgow members to strike again

Members employed by Culture and Sport Glasgow have been called to take part in a joint union 24-hour strike on 24 September 2008.

The joint union action will see members of BECTU, Unite, Unison and the GMB working together to persuade management to negotiate effectively to deliver an acceptable annual pay rise.

This latest strike call follows BECTU'S successful stoppage and work to rule which started on 29 August.

The joint union action will affect all 2500 of the company’s staff working in theatres, community venues, sport centres, libraries and museums.

Joint union action has been a possibility for several months following the refusal of Culture and Sport Glasgow to agree an annual pay rise at least in line with that awarded to staff employed by Glasgow District Council.

Culture and Sport Glasgow had previously pledged to treat its staff in line with the treatment of their former Council colleagues.

BECTU’s Scottish Officer, Paul McManus, commented,"Our members have shown enormous courage in this dispute so far and often in the face of blatant bullying. We have made it very clear to management that we are in this for the long haul.

“We want a fair and just negotiated settlement to all the issues in dispute but, so far, all that management’s intransigence has achieved is to bring all the staff together against them. We look to Culture and Sport Glasgow for a radical change of thinking and for a return to proper negotiations."

BECTU’s long-running dispute with Culture and Sport Glasgow, a private company formed following Glasgow District Council’s decision to contract out key services in April 2007, prompted an earlier strike call on 1 August.

An agreement between BECTU and company managers, led to the postponement of that action in favour of talks throughout August.

Those talks failed to settle BECTU’s claims on behalf of community facility officers and culture and leisure attendants and a 24-hour strike went ahead on 29 August followed by a work-to-rule.