| UNISON City of Edinburgh Branch |
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14 December 2001 Talks hope as janitors leave window of opportunity Hopes of talks between janitors' unions and the City of Edinburgh Council were raised today as janitors left a 'window of opportunity' before any escalation of their strike action. "We now hope talks can go ahead at ACAS next Thursday (20 December)", said UNISON branch secretary John Stevenson. "Janitors are prepared to escalate their action but have agreed to leave room for talks. If progress is being made, there may even be an opportunity to suspend future strikes to allow talks to develop". However UNISON and T&G officials warned that janitors were ready to increase their strike action if needed. 130 janitors in 67 primary schools, 18 community centres, a miscellaneous centre and one secondary school have taken two three-day blocks of strike action over the last two weeks. They exempted special schools and also decided not to strike in the last week of term to avoid disrupting end of term activities. The dispute dates from 1999 and concerns irregular hours payments to recognise the 6am to 6pm day. The nationally agreed payments can amount to £20 a week but have not been paid by the Council following a janitorial review. |
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