Services And Schools Hit By Social Work Strike

More than 120 schools and services are to be hit as thousands of council workers stage a one-day strike over swingeing cuts and possible redundancies.

The authority announced the closure programme, which will also hit community centres and social work services, after failing to come to an agreement with union leaders.

The walk-out will see 33 nursery schools and early years centres, primary, secondary and special schools shut for the day, and a further 39 only partially open. All children at schools which are staying open have been asked to take packed lunches.

There will be 29 community centres closed, and eight partially open, and five social work practice teams closed, and eight partially open. Libraries, recycling facilities and public toilets are also set to be affected by the strike.

The action is planned to coincide with a crunch council meeting which will discuss the latest measures proposed to save the local authority millions of pounds over the next few months.

Unison officials vowed the 24-hour strike would go ahead unless they received an assurance over threatened job losses.

John Ross, service conditions convener at Unison, said: “There has been no discussion between us and the new council administration at all on these proposals. We have had to find out about them for ourselves and we are more than disappointed at the lack of consultation. The strike is 100 per cent going ahead at the moment as the council has treated its staff with complete contempt.”

Walkouts are planned at major Edinburgh Festival venues including the Usher Hall, the City Art Centre and the Assembly Rooms.

It is thought the strike may also affect the full council meeting itself because of the number of staff who will be needed for the event.

And the Edinburgh Military Tattoo said it had been forced to cancel a free showcase in Princes Street Gardens tomorrow because of the industrial action. If today’s council meeting agrees on cuts, union leaders are expected to draw up a programme of further action, likely to include further strikes and overtime bans.