GMB Calls On Councils To ‘Do The Right Thing’
GMB Calls On Councils To ‘Do The Right Thing’ By Administration Stricken Recycling Staff
GMB Scotland has today (Thursday 6 September) called on West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde councils to ‘do the right thing’ and bring staff and services from the administration stricken recycling firm Greenlight Environmental under public ownership.
The social enterprise, which employed over 100 people and applied for voluntary administration in August, fell into administration last Friday after efforts to find a new buyer failed.
The administration resulted in the closure of local recycling centres and disruption to recycling collections for residents living in high-rise and tenement buildings.
Moves have been made this week by West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) to re-engage some staff on short-term contracts of employment but GMB is calling on both WDC and Inverclyde Council to restore the entire service under full council control.
GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan said: “The administration of Greenlight has resulted in the closure of civic amenities, disruption to recycling collections for residents and ultimately, unemployment for many of our members.
We welcome the positive moves by WDC to re-engage some staff but the obvious way forward here is for both WDC and Inverclyde to bring the entire Greenlight operation under full council ownership.
If our politicians are insistent that our councils and the public must to do more to ‘go green’ then they cannot credibly strip away the resources that facilitate this ambition, while heaping pressure on services that are already severely stretched.
Both councils need to look at the Greenlight staff as a ready-made workforce for the continued delivery of the important public services that residents in West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde have come to expect.
In the meantime, we will ensure the statutory rights of our members are protected but ultimately we are fighting tooth and nail for both councils to do the right thing and re-employ this workforce.”
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Contact: GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan on 07921 885786 or Peter Welsh, GMB Scotland Communications, on 07976 447077.
