The two month strike by staff across Glasgow day care centres ended on December 6th with a slim majority vote of 11 in favour of a return to work. However Unison leaders are being heavily criticised by the strikers, many of whom feel they were 'bounced' into accepting the union's advice to call off the action and not having enough time to discuss the outcome of negotiations. At the same time they claim union leaders did not tell them of developments.
 
The strike was over the City Council's proposals to implement a 'modernisation' programme which would have meant the closure of half the council's centres, and a regrading of staff to the detriment of a substantial number. At the end of November, the strikers arranged a series of meetings involving reps of 4,000 workers in 20 workplaces across the council's social work department. Consequently, in a ballot, the social workers supported a call for strike action by more than 8 to 1. This development significantly strengthened the day care workers' action and would certainly have led to even more council workers becoming involved. Many workers are now saying they had no knowledge of the social work department workers' decision. Glasgow City Council had earlier said they would not meet the union while the day care workers were on strike.
 
Clearly, the result and strength of the ballot by the social workers was the decisive factor in forcing the council to meet with Unison representatives on Wednesday December 5th. The recommendation to return to work was made at a mass meeting the following day.
 
Yet the deal appears suspiciously sketchy with many of the striking workers apparently still unaware of the detail. At the time of writing, all that is concretely known is that staff will not be regraded in the initially proposed way - most will not lose out - and there will be no compulsory redundancies. But the closure programme remains unresolved and, as a result, this matter has not been put to bed. The very close vote in favour of returning to work indicates that many workers were prepared to carry on with the strike action. It was the most militant action of recent years and the union's decision to recommend an end to the strike is puzzling considering the strike was solid and the social work department's intention to take action would almost certainly spread, leaving the council in chaos.
 
With the Tartan Tories, the SNP, now in a majority in the Scottish Parliament, having ordered a swinging round of cuts amounting to £2.7 billion in a blitz on public spending, the failure to resolve the closure of half of Glasgow City Council's day care centres, ensures that this struggle is not finished. Other council workers throughout Scotland will almost certainly be forced to take industrial action in the near future as more jobs and services come under threat. Glasgow could have taken the lead and led the way in sending the SNP Tories 'homeward tae think again'. Instead, the union leaders appear to have botched what was a magnificent struggle by the rank and file council workforce.