AROUND 70 protesters gathered to demand the council intervene in a janitors dispute with Cordia.

Unison officials and striking janitors were outside the City Chambers with cowboy hats, sheriff badges and "Wanted" posters, demanding the council members on the Cordia board talk to them.

They said the situation with Cordia, one of the council's arms-length external organisations, had reached a stalemate, with no further talks planned.

The primary school janitors have been taking strike action since March in a dispute over extra payments, ranging from £500 to £1,000 a year.

Sam Macartney, of Unison, said the janitors had been deliberately scored low in Cordia staff assessments to avoid triggering the payments, which he said were paid to janitors working in other sectors, such as police stations.

He said: "It's purely financial, it's got nothing to do with justice.

"The council says it will work with trade unions and the council leader says he wants to work with us, so where are they?

"You've got four Labour councillors on the Cordia board. There is no attempt from Cordia to resolve this through discussion. We would expect this approach from a Conservative administration, it's disgraceful that a Labour council is sitting back."

Mr Macartney warned the dispute was likely to get worse.

He said: "It's going to get bitter, it's going to get worse and the people who will suffer are the families.

"It could be escalated. There are other groups of staff waiting to be assessed as well.

"The action will continue until the council sees common sense and takes control of their arms length company.

"Our jannies deserve justice.”

A council spokeswoman said: “This dispute is between the employers, Cordia, and the section of janitors who are members of the union, UNISON.

“It does not involve every school janitor and is inaccurate to say that there have been no discussions to try to settle the dispute.

“The council will continue to work with Cordia to ensure that our schools and nurseries will be open for business as usual."

A Cordia spokesman said: "Cordia has exhausted each of the stages of its formal grievance process with the janitorial staff who are participating in industrial action.

“The organisation is working closely with Glasgow City Council Education Services to ensure there is minimal disruption at affected schools. Parents should be reassured that any playground matters will be addressed by appropriately trained personnel and that office staff are still on-site for school entry procedures.

“It must also be noted that while pupil welfare is of paramount importance to Cordia employees based in schools, any safety related issues such as fire precautions, are always the responsibility of the head teacher and their staff who will continue to carry out full risk assessments throughout the duration of strike action.”