Furious union chiefs say the 'people of Glasgow are being failed' amid claims 10 new planned street cleaning posts have been axed due to cash constraints.
The Glasgow Times can exclusively reveal that 43 new jobs are to be advertised next week in a bid to bolster refuse collection services - however union chiefs say that 10 additional roles they were promised to support street cleansing have been dropped due to budget cuts.
Chris Mitchell, GMB convener for Glasgow's cleansing workers, has labelled the decision as 'unacceptable' and says it will only further discourage investment in key parts of Glasgow.
He said: "The council has a statutory obligation to clean the city. We have problems with vermin, my members are coming across rat infestations and people are becoming scared to let their children out to play. People are being failed at the most basic of levels.
"This isn't just in our housing schemes, this is in the heart of the city too and it really saddens me to see what once thriving parts of the city have become. They are filthy, there are still blocked drains from last winter because there is nobody to deal with the issues.
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"I'm happy to hear that there are going to be posts created in refuse collection because that service is on its knees, but I'm dismayed that the council don't see the need to reinforce a street cleansing team that is needed now more than ever."
Chris says the situation across Glasgow is the worst he has seen in his near 30 years working within cleansing.
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He added: "It is our city, we want to take pride in it, and workers are trying their hardest. There simply isn't the manpower now to cope with the workload. Cities across the UK know the importance of protecting their economy by keeping their city centres clean, attractive and viable, but businesses don't want to come here anymore.
"Where we are now is a result of years of neglect, years blighted by a lack of investment. We are on the brink of breaking their statutory obligations to the people of Glasgow. And while on the face of it the council will say these are new jobs, they are really just plugging gaps by bringing back roles previously cut."
The union chief also says fly-tipping is on the rise, but council bosses insist they are keeping an eye on hotspots across the city and issuing fines to those responsible.
Chris added: "It's a city of decay, there is graffiti everywhere and a litter explosion. We've been told instances of mass illegal dumping are increasing, and this is only diverting the little resource we have somewhere else again.
"I want to see the council come back around the table and find a way to make these 10 posts we were promised in street cleaning happen.
"If we are serious about making Glasgow somewhere people want to visit and invest in, then we need to look at the bigger picture."
The local authority is urging people to report instances of fly-tipping for them to investigate.
They also say there is no reduction to existing posts and there has already been recent recruitment into the street cleansing team with Glasgow spending more than any other local authority.
A spokesman said: ‘Our street cleansing team has expanded significantly in the past year with 90 new posts created and we now have an established budget for a 470-strong street cleansing team
“Glasgow continues to spend more per head of population on street cleansing than almost every other local authority in Scotland and we will always seek to strengthen our team when resources allow.
“The on-going recruitment of 43 refuse collectors demonstrates our commitment to frontline services and new initiatives such as the on-street bin hubs will help us run services more efficiently while boosting recycling rates.
“No matter the level of resources available, street cleansing in Glasgow will always remain a challenge when litter is dropped every three second, as research has found.
“People have a crucial role to play in public cleanliness by ensuring their litter goes in one of the city’s 5500 public litter bins.”
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