Edinburgh Festival Fringe chiefs fear bin strike could cost event vital sponsors

The Fringe Society has warned that potential sponsors could be put off if the city is not looking its best.

The arts charity, which oversees the running of the event, including its official Royal Mile box office, and free street entertainments, issued an eleventh-hour plea for the Scottish Government, local government body COSLA and the city council to try to resolve an escalating pay dispute.

Chief executive Shona McCarthy has called for a collective effort to ensure the city looked "amazing and beautiful" during the 77-year-old event.

Ahead of venues across the city opening their doors on Wednesday, she pointed out that "the eyes of the world's media" would be on the city over the next few weeks.

Pressure has been mounting on First Minister John Swinney to intervene to find more money for cleansing and refuse workers across Scotland after members of three different unions rejected new pay offers.

They have warned of the prospect of a “stinking Scottish summer” and of rubbish being left to “pile up in Edinburgh’s streets” during its peak tourism season, when the Fringe alone is expected to attract an overall audience well in excess of two million.

There was widespread dismay two years ago when rubbish went uncollected across Edinburgh city centre for 12 days during a pay dispute which was only resolved after the then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hosted crunch talks after the festivals had finished.

The Fringe Society has intervened days after leading business and tourism groups joined forces to publish an open letter expressing “disappointment and frustration” at the prospect of a new wave of bin strikes disrupting next month’s festivals season in Edinburgh.

Members of the Unite, GMB and Unison unions have all voted to reject a 3.2 per cent pay offer from COSLA, amid claims that council workers in Scotland are being “grossly under-valued” compared to their colleagues in England.

COSLA last week voted to call on the Scottish Government to make more money available to help avert the planned strike action.

Ms McCarthy said: “These things are outwith our control.

"To some extent, it's futile for us to get stressed about them, because we have no influence and no control over them.

“We also completely support the right of workers to engage in collective action.

"But we'd really like COSLA, the city council and the Scottish Government to get around the table.

"We want people to come to this city and we the residents of this city to enjoy their festival and be proud of the place. You really want the city to be putting its best foot forward.

"Our job is to make sure that the Fringe runs as best as it possibly can. It's not our job to run the place, but this is a moment when the eyes of the world's media tend to be on this city for an entire month. Let's make it look amazing and look beautiful.”

Deputy chief executive Lyndsey Jackson added: “Our festival and venue colleagues would probably feel the same thing - is that it's very difficult when there is limited public investment and we're encouraged to seek private investment and bring sponsors on board to encourage them to do a walk-round of the city that doesn't look at its best.

"The real challenge is being able to pitch what we have to people who may invest in a way that keeps the Fringe as the great employer and economic contributor that it is. All of us want to be able to show the festival off in its best light.”

An open letter backed by 16 different tourism and hospitality groups has urged the Scottish Government, COSLA and the trade unions to try to resolve the dispute “for the benefit of Scotland’s global reputation, as well as the economic wellbeing of our city, local businesses and the wider public.”

Backers of the open letter include the Scottish Tourism Alliance, the Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions, the Scottish Independent Tour Operators Association, the Scottish Retail Consortium and the Scottish Licensed Trade Association.

The open letter states: “Every summer, Edinburgh is the centre of the world for arts and culture, with the various festivals attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. Our city is on the world stage and the festival season provides an opportunity for Edinburgh and the Lothians to cement and enhance its standing as a global destination.“Unfortunately, as the dispute has developed, the impact and damage on business and the public including visitors appears to have been absent from any discussion between the parties involved.

"Government at all levels have allowed this dispute to develop, providing the unions with the opportunity once again to target the festivals, without any concern for the detrimental impact it could cause, whether economic, social or in terms of the public health risk.”

COSLA chiefs have insisted that its 3.2 per cent pay offer is at the “absolute limit of affordability” for councils, describing it as “fair, strong and credible.” It has urged the unions to “pause” planned industrial action to allow pay talks involving the Scottish Government to go ahead.

The Scottish Government, which has insisted that the pay negotiations are a matter for local authorities and the unions, said it has urged all parties involved in the dispute to “work together constructively and reach an agreement which is fair for the workforce and affordable for employers.”