How should Councils cope with strikes?

Dustmen and street cleaners in Dundee are going on strike because Dundee Council have decided to pay them time and half rather than double time for working on Sundays and public holidays. The overtime is voluntary so the unions have a pretty weak case.

Often Council officers warn councillors against savings on the grounds that it would risk a strike. How should Councils respond? When I was growing up in Pimlico one of my local councillors in Churchill Ward, Westminster was Michael Forsyth, the future cabinet minister. During the Winter of Discontent when the rubbish was uncollected he emptied the dustbins himself, along with a team of volunteers. Not quite sure how all the logistics worked but that's pretty good service.