BIN strikes have spread even further across Scotland, with workers in more council areas walking out over pay amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Coinciding with existing strike action in Edinburgh, GMB Scotland union members at 16 councils will begin four days of industrial action on Monday.

The news comes after Unite members working in waste services for 13 councils went on strike on Wednesday, joining workers in Edinburgh whose ongoing stoppage began on August 18.

Unions have rejected a 5 per cent pay offer as insufficient in the context of increasing inflation and household bills.

The 5 per cent pay rise was planned to be funded in part by £140 million from the Scottish government.

Talks between the trade unions, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish government took place on Thursday.

GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said: “GMB members are clear that they are not prepared to accept working poverty as an inevitability and their strike actions are a direct response to the failure of political leaders to realise this.”

Waste workers in Edinburgh who are members of Unite are due to stay out on strike until August 30, while in the in the other 13 council areas, industrial action is planned to continue until last day of the month.

In London, Unite revealed that refuse collectors in the eastern borough of Newham will also take strike action from tomorrow after 99 per cent of members voted in favour.

Talks stalled this week after council bosses failed to improve on an offer of just £850 a year for bank holiday working.

The workers are paid far less than their counterparts in neighbouring Hackney and Greenwich.