LABOUR-RUN Glasgow City Council was accused of spending thousands of pounds on scab workers yesterday as school caretakers ended five days of strike action.

With strikers lobbying the council and the Scottish government, this latest action marked an escalation in the dispute with contractor Cordia over its refusal to pay staff supplements for undertaking physically demanding, outdoor and unclean work.

Public-sector union Unison branch officer Sam Macartney said that during the strike the council had spent roughly £3,000 a day on untrained cleaning staff to cover the strike.

This led to a serious incident when two pupils with additional support needs left their school through gates usually kept locked by the caretakers.

Mr Macartney said this had shown the council to be “totally incompetent,” adding that the lengths it had gone to in trying to disrupt the strike were “absolutely disgraceful.”

He welcomed the huge support shown by the public and teaching staff, saying that it demonstrated “how highly the staff are thought of by the general public and how lowly they are thought of by their employer.”

So far, Glasgow City Council has said it is unable to directly interfere with Cordia, but Mr Macartney rejected this claim, saying: “The council fund Cordia — they have control.”

He pointed to the example of last month’s CCTV workers’ strike, in which the council intervened with a contractor ahead of the Scottish Cup semi-finals. Workers secured a 24 per cent pay increase.

A Cordia spokesman said: “Allegations circulating that the organisation is spending £3,000 per day to cover duties are absurd.”