I have been working as a refuse worker for 10 years.
I work from the Kittybrewster depot and have done so since the fire up in Altens forced us to relocate.
My shift takes me over all areas of the city, from Holburn Street down to the college bounds, with the majority of my work being in the city centre area.
I have been taking strike action because the 5% pay offer currently on the table does absolutely nothing to help me and my workmates make ends meet. We are prepared to do the same again next week, unless the powers that be in Cosla and the Scottish Government give us the pay rise we deserve.
We do this hard and difficult job on low pay. It is invisible work, which has become very visible because of the rubbish piling up across our city.
Our work is absolutely vital to the economy, public health, and the well-being of businesses and the people of Aberdeen. Yet, we have been totally taken for granted and completely undervalued for years.
We work shifts starting from 7am till 3pm, Monday to Thursday, and 2.30pm on a Friday. We can also work weekends, if available, to earn some much-needed extra cash.
We are not asking for the world
Many of my workmates are on wages as low as £18,000 a year, and what’s been offered represents a wage cut. It’s as simple as that.
We are all feeling the pinch with inflation hitting a 40-year high of 12.3%, and warnings it will only get worse. Energy bills are expected to reach £3,549 a year come October, and, worryingly, expected to top £5,300 by next April.
What is currently being offered, much of it a one-off payment, just doesn’t deal with the cost of living crisis. The offer would simply vanish into thin air when these energy bills come through the door. It’s a one-time sweetener that gives us absolutely no security going forward.
Throughout the pandemic, we turned up for work every day in our different crews to keep Aberdeen’s streets clean. We are not asking for the world here, only that our hard work is valued, and that we are offered a decent wage rise.
We actually can’t afford to work right now, and that’s why we are striking
It may sound strange, but we actually can’t afford to work right now, and that’s why we are striking. It will hurt and cost us more in the future if we don’t take a stand now. We need to fight for a wage rise because it won’t be given to us otherwise.
Those in charge have dragged their heels for too long
The people of Aberdeen need to be asking their politicians why it has taken Cosla nearly six months to make the 5% offer, when this could have been sorted in March if they had only talked properly with my union, Unite.
Many of us feel that the situation has been created by politicians in council chambers and in the Scottish Government. They seem happy to fight with each other, scoring cheap political points, while none of them are taking responsibility.
None of them seem to be doing what needs to be done to sort this mess out. I want this resolved, and so do my workmates – but not at any price.
Rubbish will pile up across the city once again next week, unless they come back to us with a better offer. If they don’t, the mess on the streets will be on Aberdeen City Council, Cosla and the Scottish Government – not us.
Abby MacMillan is a refuse worker in Aberdeen
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