The health of the country relies on the work of the underpaid. Ancient Rome learned the hard way - now it is Edinburgh ’s turn, having failed to learn the lesson the first time Scotland is set to face a wave of ‘winter of discontent’-style bin strikes , echoing the infamous Edinburgh bin strikes during the 2022 Fringe Festival . Advertisement Advertisement Sign up to our Politics newsletter Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
Then, Public Health Scotland had to issue health alerts as food, animal waste and nappies were piled up on the street corners of Auld Reekie. The strike, organised by unions calling for a flat-rate pay bump for its lowest paid workers, affected households across the demographic spectrum, but the pressure was intended to hit the heart of Scotland’s political elite in Edinburgh’s affluent neighbourhoods. Rubbish bags piled up in the New Town, Stockbridge and West End, and although there was a bonus sense of schadenfreude at the idea of well-heeled office workers getting their hands dirty, the real intention was to target influence - it wasn’t long until well-connected residents were lobbying their political contacts to end the strikes.
It may seem cynical, but governments of all persuasion listen more carefully to the concerns of well-connected, affluent communities - and if you don’t believe me, take a walk around Glasgow, where you’d be forgiven for thinking the bin strikes have already started. The idea of the lowest paid members of society withdrawing their labour, leaving the wealthy to fend for themselves for once, dates back to Ancient Rome. Plebeian citizens would simply leave the city as part of a ‘secessio plebis’ - withdrawal of the commoners - leaving Rome’s patrician class to fend for themselves for once.
It was remarkably effective too - the first secessio plebis in 494BCE led to plebeians being granted a governmental position, probably the first workers’ representative in history. The health of the populace is inextricably linked to the pay and conditions of the underpaid, especially in Scotland’s healthcare system. Advertisement Advertisement Scotland’s NHS relies on the many janitors, cleaners and under-paid medical workers which underpin the running of hospitals.
Hospitals themselves rely on the ability to discharge patients to community care - staffed by minimum wage workers, who have been leaving the profession in droves since the pandemic. And in the agricultural sector, farms are struggling to find fruit and vegetable pickers for harvest, impacting the availability of nutrient-dense foods in supermarkets. For bin workers, Unite has warned that a “stinking Scottish summer looms”, with “mountains of rubbish” building up in the streets, unless more money is found to fund a better pay deal.
According to the union, council workers earning £25,000 a year in Scotland are set to get a rise of 41p an hour, compared to the 67p being offered to staff in the rest of the UK. Once the pyramids of rubbish appear on the corners of wealthy neighbourhoods, it will be only a matter of time before the Scottish Government miraculously finds the money for a fairer pay deal. Comments Want to join the conversation? Please register or log in to comment on this article.
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