Bin staff to strike from August in pay dispute

3 hours ago

Mariam Issimdar

BBC A man wearing orange high-vis clothing collects waste in a cart on a street, with bags full of rubbish.

Refuse collectors and street-cleaning staff, as well as landscaping workers and grave diggers, are to go on strike in Great Yarmouth in August, according to the Unite union.

A row over pay will see about 100 employees of Great Yarmouth Services (GYS), a council-owned company responsible for a wide range of duties in the Norfolk borough, walk out.

Union members have rejected a 3.3% wage rise and are demanding 20% to match wages paid to staff doing the same jobs in Norwich, Broadland and Lowestoft.

GYS said it could not afford a 20% rise and was "making contingency plans to maintain core services that prioritise need and public health".

Unite said seafront businesses would not have their waste collected, litter bins would not be emptied, and street cleaning services, including at the beach, would not go ahead. Household waste collections would also stop.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "These workers are doing heavy, smelly work in all weathers to keep Great Yarmouth clean and tidy.

"Their current rate of pay is an insult and needs to improve. Unite is supporting these workers all the way in their fight for fair wages."

Strikes have been organised for 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12 August.

Industrial action will continue over the summer if the dispute is not resolved, the union said.

The strike will affect services in Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and surrounding villages.

Unite says bins will overflow as rubbish goes uncollected during the strike (library picture)

A close-up of overflowing rubbish strewn across a promenade, next to a black bin and black railings. — Unite says bins will overflow as rubbish goes uncollected during the strike (library picture)

A spokesman for GYS said resources would focus on collecting bins, emptying litter bins and keeping the streets clean in key locations, as well as grave digging services.

He added that Norfolk County Council had agreed to extend opening hours at the Caister-on-Sea transfer station for bin lorries so waste could be taken there over a longer period.

GYS said the Unite pay demand was unaffordable. It said that when it was set up, it had agreed with unions for pay to match the National Joint Council (NJC) award – a national system deciding increases for workers in similar roles across the country.

The company said that if it met the 20% demand, the cost would amount to some £1m annually, and would lead to reduced services for residents to pay for the increase.

Unite regional officer Andreas Kuchner described the 3.3% offer as "deeply unfair poverty pay rates".

He added: "Strike action can still be avoided but that will require an acceptable offer."

Unison and GMB Union members are also supporting the action.

In Birmingham last year, bin workers walked out in a pay dispute for more than 12 months.