Glasgow's bin strikes have made invisible work visible

I'm thinking of the "in my day" type of people. You'll have seen them online or maybe you're unfortunate enough to have some of them in your family. 

I'll assume you don't have them in your social circle because who on earth is friends with these people?

Say, for example, a young person is complaining about being unable to afford a deposit for a flat. "In my day," they'll grumble, "We didn't buy avocado on toast or have a Netflix subscription or drink takeaway coffees. The young don't know they're born."

Or, concerns about the cost of living crisis. "In my day," and this is really wild stuff, "We enjoyed making patterns in the frost inside our bedroom windows and we hugged a hot brick to keep warm."

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The bin strikes have not been safe from these people either. I've been seeing folk share images of bags upon bags of rubbish piled high during the bin strikes of the Winter of Discontent in the 1970s with words along the lines of, "This isn't a bin strike, that was a bin strike."  

I mean, jeezo, give it a rest. 

It's all relative, isn't it? If you can't afford to buy a home now or heat your home now or if your home has rubbish piled outside now - it's what we're experiencing now. It doesn't matter if things were worse 50 years ago.

And, let's face it, you would hope for a bit of progress for humanity in five decades, not a massive slide backwards.

I'm not sure where the criticism lies here either. Is it aimed at the public for not making enough mess? Is it aimed at the refuse workers for not striking long enough to generate as much mess? Or is it aimed at soft snowflakes for moaning about mess that isn't really all that bad?

I tell you where it's not aimed - in the correct direction, which is towards the people who are stopping low-paid workers from having fair earnings for fair work.

During the pandemic, the people working in the jobs that are now taking industrial action were recognised by their employers as frontline workers.

No one clapped on the doorsteps for the binmen but it was the binmen who were out risking their health to do a serious job of work while more fortunate sectors were able to work from home.

It was the janitors and cleaning staff, alongside the teachers, who kept the buildings open that allowed children and young people who needed extra support or who were the kids of key workers to be able to go into schools.

During the ballot for industrial action, I spoke to union members and shop stewards who said Cosla's initial 2% pay rise had been nothing but a slap in the face to these people. It was this sense of insult that had prompted many to take the step to walk out.

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That's not an easy step. Low-paid workers in a cost-of-living emergency can hardly afford to lose more pay but they were willing to in order to make a stand - and for the hope of a better future.

People might say it's unfair that the unions are "targetting schools" but that's a complete misrepresentation of the situation. 

Schools are where low-paid staff work. They can't be expected to keep working without dignified pay just because they work in schools. 

A new pay offer has been made to try to settle the dispute. The three unions – GMB Scotland, Unite and Unison – are looking at an offer from Cosla that may just be enough to call off the bin strikes and next week's school strikes and mean schools will stay open. 

Two-thirds of councils in Scotland have seen workers walk out. 

The result of this has been scenes in Glasgow almost as severe as the scenes in Edinburgh from the weeks of strikes during the Edinburgh International Festivals. 
Bins are overflowing, rubbish is scattered in the streets, the smell in the hot weather is... fragrant.

It's a useful illustration of why the work refuse collectors do is so vital. It's invisible labour the majority of the time - we see it only when that labour stops.

If nothing else, and even if the strikes have now been called off, it should be enough to serve as a long-lasting reminder of the value of the work the general public does not see - or does not choose to see - but that keeps the very fabric of the city functioning. 

It's a startling display, also, of how much is thrown away that could be reduced by ensuring reusable items are being prioritised. 

At the end of it all, it's not like the refuse workers finish their strike and waltz back to work without a care in the world. 

It's these guys who are going to have to clean up the mess you've dropped - and you, over there, that you've dropped. Same as it ever was but, hopefully, now looking to the future with some extra money in their pockets.