GLASGOW’S striking janitors were dealt a blow this week as bosses threatened to slash their jobs.

The school janitors escalated their strike action this week in a bid to be granted an extra payment worth between £500 and £1,000 a year for undertaking duties which are dirty, involve regular outdoor working and heavy lifting.

On Thursday, their union Unison met with Cordia management to discuss a resolution to the industrial action, which has been ongoing since January.

But Unison revealed that Cordia, an arms-length body of Glasgow City Council, is planning to carry out a three-month pilot in November across six schools which will see six janitors reduced to four.

The pilot will then be assessed in February next year with a view to cutting janitor jobs by as much as 25 per cent across Glasgow.

Unison have now written to Glasgow City Council leader Frank McAveety calling on him to intervene and resolve the dispute.
The union’s Glasgow secretary Brian Smith said members were “very angry” over the situation.

Mr Smith highlighted that school janitors meet the criteria to be awarded the payment, and that Cordia’s current position meant that “school janitors have the same working conditions as a senior council manager who never leaves their office, gets wet, works outside, lifts anything heavy or cleans up sick!”

This week, janitors from Glasgow’s schools have been picketing outside the City Chambers and were yesterday dressed as mummies for Halloween.

A spokesperson for Cordia said: “All janitors taking part [in the pilot] are doing so voluntarily and it will not affect their positions in any way. It is simply a pilot to look into a number of future models.”