The big clean-up of the streets and parks of Scotland’s biggest city is now on, union bosses claim.
The Daily Record has repeatedly featured scenes of infestation across Glasgow that led the GMB union to give birth to Cludgie the rat – who led calls for more cash to drive the rodents back into their sewers.
And the GMB is claiming an historic victory after cash-strapped Glasgow City Council awarded £6.5 million added funding for cleansing services.
The cash boost means 200 new jobs, with 150 in cleansing and 50 for park workers to proactively deal with mounting litter and food debris that attracts the rodents in the first place.
New specialist teams will also be assigned to road sweeping and fly tipping, with a mission to restore many blackspots back to becoming decent public spaces.
GMB convenor for refuse Chris Mitchell said the budget award was a meteoric victory.
Mitchell said: “I don’t want to overstate it but this is a game changer, an opportunity to restore some pride in Glasgow and I will be seeking to play a personal part in coordinating major improvements.
“This will enable our cleansing services to move on from being a complaints service, where the people who shouted loudest got better services than others.
“We’ve endured a staffing crisis, where street cleaning was decimated and it was clearly becoming a health and safety issue.
“I launched a campaign that was aimed at reclaiming standards that were lost and I truly believe we can restore them again.
“I referred to the abandoned side streets of Glasgow and I was very brutal about it. I represented the rat epidemic that was becoming very real for many Glaswegians.
“And the council has finally seen sense and I’m very grateful for that.”
Mitchell said his campaigning saw him being accused of being a Labour Party puppet, obsessed with creating trouble for the city’s SNP led council.
He said: “I was also accused of staging stuff, like I was making a Hollywood movie about rats taking over. I was even accused of painting white rats black.
“But the situation was 100% real. The city is looking terrible, a disgrace, and the time to sort it is starting now.”
Mitchell admits he was amazed at the granting of £6.5 million in extra cash at Glasgow City Council’s budget meeting last week after years of appeals falling on deaf ears.
He said: “We can assemble a force that will make a difference. We will have 40 night-shift deep-clean workers.
“Deep-clean squads will expand from 10 to 23 teams, moving area by area across the city.
“They will be working hard and they will be very visible.
“It wasn’t so long ago that refuse workers were more than that – they were like tour guides, ambassadors for the city, connected to the city life and a font of knowledge on ho it works.
“But the staffing crisis mean they have had to gave hostility, as filthy streets lead to anger and frustration.
“I’m optimistic we can have teams of workers who really care about making a difference and if we deploy them properly they impact will be fast.
“Places like Kelvingrove Park, Victoria Park and Pollok Park will be properly maintained.
“They won’t be focal points for complaints and they will be transformed by this development.”
The cleansing turnaround will also see 10 dedicated enforcement officers, slapping fines on those who reck the environment for others.
Mitchell said: “We will hopefully be able to make a decent dent of fly tipping because this is one thing that angers people – and too many offenders get away with it.
“We need enforcement to back up all the good work done by cleansing teams.”
Mitchell said citizens have to take a personal stake in improving things.
He said: The workers and the people will make it happen. I’m saying right now that this will bring a lot of success and if that puts me under pressure that’s fine.
“Cleaning Glasgow up is the first stage in improvements, right down the line, to creating better confidence in business and bringing more jobs and vibrant spaces back to the city centre.
“At the moment it’s a no-go zone for many people, primarily based on what an eyesore it is. A lot of it is fixable.
“Think of New York and the so-called “broken window effect” – and it fits the scene here. Where you see damage and decay, more follows. But when you see repair and a common pride the stuff that follows is positive.”
Mitchell said the return of the Commonwealth Games next year will be a very real target for improvements to be seen.
He said: “We’ve used the Games as a focal point in our campaign and the timeframe is a realistic things to se how much we can turn things around.”
Glasgow City Council revealed a 7.5% council tax increase – that will fund the cleansing improvements.
Ricky Bell, Glasgow’s city treasurer, said “high impact” staffing increases would be prioritised.
The council has been asked to comment.
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