Alexander Dennis is a victory for workers, despite attempts to belittle the role of our movement and unions on the ground. The Government should be prepared to use the victory as the next stop on the journey to better industrial relations, not the terminus, writes STUC leader and Herald columnist Roz Foyer.

The news that the Scottish Government stepped in to support Alexander Dennis with a £4 million furlough scheme allowed workers to breathe a sigh of relief. We know that without this intervention, around 400 workers would now be facing the stark reality of unemployment, with their skills and livelihoods tossed onto the scrapheap.

I want to give credit where it’s due. The First Minister and his Cabinet ministers deserve praise for acting decisively. They listened. They recognised that the consequences of inaction would have been catastrophic.

But let’s not forget: this deal did not come from nowhere. It was not dreamed up in a ministerial office. It came because workers, through their trade unions Unite and GMB, rolled up their sleeves and fought for it. It was union reps and organisers who first presented the furlough scheme as a workable option and it was the persistence of those unions that ensured ministers could not turn a blind eye.

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