SCOTTISH councils should resist “managerialism,” take back control from officers and lead the fightback against cuts, trade unionists argued over the weekend.

Unison organiser Jennifer McCarey told a conference organised by the Clydebank Trades Council that strike action by women council workers in Glasgow was a shining example of “bottom up trade unionism.”

She said last week’s strike, which came after a decade-long struggle for pay equality at the city council, showed that “just as trickle down economics doesn't work, neither does trickle down feminism.”

Ms McCarey added: “#metoo won’t lead to gender equality – trade unionism will.

“Managerialism is at work in councils. Councillors need to take back political control from officers and they should not be asking communities to decide which cuts – they should be leading the battle against all cuts.”

Clydebank Trades Council secretary Tam Morrison said that trade unions and communities would be “unstoppable” if they work together.

The meeting in Clydebank on Saturday was the first in a series of gatherings of Scottish trade unions and trades councils.

West Dunbartonshire Unison convener Val Jennings said: “There is another way, and it’s when trade unions and the communities are working together alongside the People’s Assembly.

“Meetings and campaigns like this let the administration know that folk are not going to put up with cuts that affect all aspects of their lives.”

Unite Community organiser Jamie-Max Caldwell announced plans for a national day of action against Universal Credit in December, as well as a protest at Clydebank Shopping Centre on November 30.