Striking parking attendants held a rally in Glasgow on Friday as they began two days of strike action, as they hit out at the state of the city's roads and infrastructure.
Members from Unite and GMB walked out on Thursday, the first day of UCI World Championships, after receiving a below inflation pay offer of 5.5%.
The GMB Union said its members had faced abuse from drivers about the state of the roads, and over the faded markings which denote parking restrictions.
With the men's and women's road races both finishing in the city sections have been resurfaced, but one striking worker said there are areas of the route which are not fit for elite sport.
One parking attendant working in Glasgow told The Herald: "We’re quite embarrassed about the state of the city.
"We’re wondering: where is the investment in the city all year round?
“Some of the patches that have been done are pitiful and Glasgow should be ashamed to host it in some of the sections that they are.”
While the GMB union asked "why roads can be repaired for a cycle race but not for the people using them every day of the year?", Glasgow City Council said investment had not been targeted to the road race routes and repairs had been determined through its regular process.
In response a spokesperson said: "No specific funding has been set aside for road repairs for our hosting of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
"The competition requires the road routes to be in an appropriate condition to be able to hold the elite level races. Remedial carriage repair works or potholes identified on the route have been fixed as part of the council’s business as usual roads maintenance programme.
“The council recently announced that it has doubled its budget for road repairs to help surfaces recover from the most damaging winter in over a decade. The additional £6million in funding will be used over the next year to target more of those areas where weather and high traffic impacts have emerged and where we know there are existing problems.”
Union leaders had previously warned their members were facing increasing abuse from the public due to poor road conditions and unclear markings.
A parking attendant named Karen said: "There’s been decades of under-investment in the parking infrastructure which leaves some areas of the city a parking free-for-all where others get penalised where the infrastructure is correct.
“As a parking attendant it often does feel unfair, there are people on the street we can book and others are getting away with free parking daily.
"We do our best to make sure that when we issue a ticket it would stand up to scrutiny, we don’t wish to book anyone who doesn’t deserve the penalty.
“Where there’s ambiguity I do have sympathy with the people receiving penalty notices and the parking charges have gone up and up.
“The public have been very angry at the decision to make the parking charges as they are."
Read More: Glasgow parking workers say faded road markings lead to abuse
GMB general secretary Gary Smith said at a rally on the steps of the Royal Concert Hall: “It is simply not good enough for Glasgow City Council to be talking about sporting festivals and welcoming the world while ordinary people in this city are struggling to pay their bills, keep a roof over their heads and children are going to school hungry.
“Taking strike action isn’t easy but it is fantastic to see working people standing together on picket lines to say that they are not going to pay for this cost of living crisis.
“That crisis has been made by the Tories but we cannot let the SNP and Greens off the hook. We have a Tory government down south that is actually offering the lowest paid council workers more than the Scottish Governments is prepared to pay.
“All frontline workers who worked so hard during the pandemic, who were celebrated during the pandemic, deserve an inflation proof pay rise and we stand with every one of them.”
Unite General Secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “City Parking and Glasgow Life workers have no option but to take strike action. They deserve a fair pay award rather than a significant real terms pay cut.
“Any disruption caused is due to the chronic failure by Glasgow City Council, COSLA and the Scottish Government to improve on the 5% offer which has been overwhelmingly rejected. Unite fully supports its members who are leading the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions across local government."
A COSLA Spokesperson said: “The reality of the situation is that as employers, council leaders have made a strong offer to the workforce. A strong offer which clearly illustrates the value councils place on their workforce, and it compares well to other sectors.
Read More: UCI World Championships 2023: Everything you need to know
"It recognises the cost-of-living pressures on our workforce and critically, it seeks to protect jobs and services.
“While the offer value in year is 5.5%, the average uplift on salaries going into the next financial year is 7%. Those on the Scottish Local Government Living Wage would get 9.12% and those at higher grades, where Councils are experiencing severe recruitment challenges, would see 6.05%.
“It is an offer which recognises both the vital role of the people who deliver our essential services across Councils every day and the value that we, as employers, place on them. Crucially, it also raises the Scottish Local Government Living Wage by 99p to £11.84 per hour and sets out a commitment to work with our Trade Unions to develop a road map to £15 per hour in a way that protects our workforce and services we deliver.”
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