UNION officials have urged council chiefs to hold an “urgent” meeting with frontline cleansing staff in a bid to tackle the city’s “waste crisis” ahead of COP26.

GMB bosses have sent a pleading letter to party leaders across Glasgow in a desperate bid to “clean up the streets” prior to the arrival of major world players in November.

In the open letter, organiser Sean Baillie said: “As a union, we will not wait for the visit of world leaders for our city to be ‘spruced up’.

“Nor will we allow the actions and attitude of a short-sighted and increasingly out-of-touch leadership prevent us from campaigning for the clean, green city in which we all deserve to live and work.

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“In recent years, crippling budget cuts have been masked as service reform in a crude attempt to greenwash a programme of austerity.”

To tackle the issue, GMB has called for the creation of 100 new refuse collector and street cleaner posts, scrapping the bulk uplift charge and the return to fortnightly domestic waste collections, as well as the reintroduction of backcourt teams and direct employment of any long-serving agency staff who want it.

Both the Conservatives and the Greens responded they want a "rethink" of the current bulk uplift charges and believed the cleansing issue required urgent attention.

Councillor Malcolm Cunning said: “Instead of denying there is any problem, Susan Aitken and her administration need to engage with staff. It is our workers that are being bitten by rats while trying to clear up this administration’s mess. They deserve better.”

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A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council confirmed Aitken had received the letter and intended to respond directly to Baillie.