The head of one of Britain's biggest trade unions has urged Police Scotland to act as problems continue with a private contractor branded a "disgrace" by staff.
As previously reported by The Herald, Atalian Servest was given a five-year £75m contract in January to provide cleaning services at 450 Police Scotland buildings, having previously been awarded contracts for facilities management and for security services at Cop26.
Cleaners, janitors, and catering, security and housekeeping staff handle sensitive information and have to pass rigorous security checks before taking on the work, with most paid just £10.90 per hour.
As previously reported by The Herald, the company has also outsourced duties previously performed by staff to its own contractors, including changing lightbulbs and cleaning food off walls - with the taxpayer picking up the tab.
GMB Scotland have urged Police Scotland to review the contract, with a number of issues raised since Atalian Servest took over in April including wages being wrong; the HR portal where staff can check pay and holidays being unreliable; agreed holidays being refused; staff now being asked to work Bank Holidays; and supervisors not being allowed to give up the role despite not being paid more for the extra responsibility.
On Friday the union's general secretary, Gary Smith, visited the force's headquarters in Glasgow to deliver a letter urging them to act after staff were not paid their September wages in full.
Read More: Police Scotland: Taxpayers billed £60 to change a lightbulb
One cleaner told The Herald the wages of almost all her colleagues were wrong for the month because bank holidays had not been properly recorded.
She said: “This month was particularly bad but it happens all the time.
“You phone them up and they say ‘Oh, we’ll sort that out next month’ but that’s no good when you are relying on every penny to make ends meet.
“A lot of the staff are single parents struggling to get by day-to-day never mind month-to-month. Not even being able to rely on your wages is awful and the uncertainty just piles on stress.
“I’ve never known things to be so bad. Morale is through the floor.
Read More: Police Scotland criticised over £75m cleaning contract
“Police Scotland need to speak to the staff not to the bosses. They need to know what is going on.”
Another worker said the contractor - which is recently merged with OCS Group to create a single company with revenues of over £2bn - was failing its staff, who earn £10.90 an hour, and Police Scotland should be ashamed.
They said: “There will always be teething problems when a company takes over a new contract but, six months on, things are as bad as they were at the start if not worse.
“Police Scotland promised to sort things but have done nothing. It’s a mess, a disgrace.
“This company is squeezing every pound until it bleeds and the staff are the innocent victims.”
Gary Smith, GMB general secretary, met Atalian Servest staff in Glasgow on Friday and said their treatment since the contract changed hands six months ago has shamed Police Scotland.
He delivered a letter to the national force calling for urgent talks and calling on senior officers to compel the company to resolve the ongoing problems with pay and conditions.
He said: “The everyday operation of Scotland’s national police force is built on the shoulders of these workers and they deserve better than this.
“Some have been working in the same police offices for decades but say they have never been treated with such disregard.
“It is a simple disgrace that a multinational company being paid by taxpayers has so little respect for its staff that it cannot even pay them on time and in full.
“It is little wonder morale has never been lower and it is beyond time for Police Scotland to step in and sort it out.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Pay is a matter for the employer, Atalian Servest.
“Police Scotland has put contractual provision in place in accordance with our commitment to Fair Work practices and we anticipate that all suppliers will adhere to these principles.”
Atalian Servest have been contacted for comment.
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