BROOM SERVICE; Bin row team in hotel.

Byline: Mark Smith

PRIVATE contract cleaners were put up in a plush Hilton hotel during the Edinburgh bin dispute.

A crew of 30 staff stayed in the airport hotel after being flown from Liverpool at a cost of around pounds 45,000 to taxpayers.

Yesterday, binmen facing large cuts to their wages slammed the move as a "slap in the face".

Their work-to-rule was nearing an end last night after talks between the Unite union and council bosses.

Fighting

But one binman fumed: "We found out a squad of scab staff had been put up at the Hilton.

"That's not right when we are fighting to try to keep a living.

"The council have spent thousands flying these people in, paying massive wages and putting them up in top hotels.

"Would that money not have been better spent on trying to resolve this dispute?

"The amount spent on contractors could have paid a decent wage to hundreds of binmen."

It's understood the contract for the Liverpool crew cost the council pounds 1500 per worker for two days. That included wages, travel expenses and accommodation.

A council spokesman confirmed they were hired to keep the city tidy during the Gathering celebrations at the end of July.

He added: "They did stay at the Hilton but that was a decision by the contractors. We paid them and it was their choice how to get the staff here and where they stayed.

"They did a fantastic job keeping the city clean."

CAPTION(S):

CLEAN BREAK: Hotel where workers stayed TRASH: Resident puts out rubbish at unemptied bin during action