Campaigners fighting to re-open dozens of ‘crucial’ public facilities in Glasgow have accused the council of treating the assets as an “optional extra”.
A large-scale protest march against the continued closure of the Glasgow Life venues – including libraries, sports facilities and museums – is to be held on Saturday
And organiser Jim Monaghan, from Glasgow Against Closures, said all Glasgow Life venues are vital to the city and should be reopened.
“They are absolutely crucial,” he said. “The problem we have right now is we have a situation where museums, galleries, libraries, sports facilities are treated as an optional extra.”
Glasgow Life is the arms-length body running leisure and culture venues for the city council. It lost £38m as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, which forced venues to close.
Around 80 facilities remain closed however, after a £100m guarantee from the council allowed 90 to reopen.
Mr Monaghan said the closed services are a critical part of what we have a council for.
“Without libraries, social work is a lot harder,” he said. “Without sports facilities, health is a lot harder. Without museums, education is a lot harder.”
Glasgow Against Closures will be joined by local campaign groups and trade unions for the protest.
They will walk from the closed St Mungo Museum to the People’s Palace, starting from Cathedral Square at 12.30pm.
The protest will follow a route along Castle Street, High Street, Trongate and Saltmarket, entering Glasgow Green via the McLennan Arch.
Glasgow Life has previously announced it plans to cut 500 jobs as a result of the closures.
The unions have sent a letter to all Glasgow’s MSPs and MPs asking them to use their influence to “win a better deal for our city”.
They have lodged a formal collective grievance over the potential job cuts at Glasgow Life and the ongoing closures.
Unison’s Brian Smith, on behalf of the joint trade unions, said: “Glasgow needs more investment, not less.
“The trade unions are calling for a proper plan to secure the financial future of all current Glasgow Life services and jobs.
“The city’s leisure and sport facilities, libraries and cultural venues are under immediate threat.”
Both the unions and Glasgow Against Closures want Glasgow Life to be taken back in-house by the council.
Mr Smith said: “In addition, Glasgow Life, in common with ALEOs across the country, is a flawed funding model.
“Glasgow City Council has admitted as much by bringing in-house its other ALEOs and should do the same with Glasgow Life.”
A council spokesman said: "Glasgow has, for generations, invested substantially more than average in its cultural and sport services – and it has already increased its support for Glasgow Life by more than £25m per year in response to current financial challenges.
"The council continually reviews and adapts its operating model to deliver best value services to the city, address financial challenges and ensure it can deliver on the council’s strategic priorities – this includes Glasgow Life."
Glasgow Life has been approached for comment.
