Waste management employees in Scotland have called off strike action that was set to occur later this month. Waste management employees are represented by the GMB union, and the union reached an agreement with local government officials, and the unionized workers successfully voted in favor of the contract. The new contract will increase wages by over a thousand pounds per year. The increased wages will hopefully increase worker retention rates and boost recruitment efforts. The Scottish government was able to find additional funds to pay the increased wages but announced a hold on non-essential government spending. The union states that the reduction in government spending is not solely because of union demands, but because local government officials took too long to ask for additional funds from the Scottish government.
See "Scotland avoids waste management worker strike after agreement between GMB union and local government is reached", BBC, August 29, 2024