Should workers vote in favour of the action, it is likely to affect waste collections later this year and over the Christmas period, Unite has warned.
The union has claimed that Suez – the private contractor which operates the collection contract on behalf of Doncaster council – is set to cut the number of workers on the contract, making 106 redundancies out of a total workforce of 258 workers, due to a change in the collection system in the borough.
Unite said the job cuts will come into effect before the company’s new contract agreed by Doncaster council, comes into effect in March 2018.
However, in a statement issued Yesterday, Suez Recycling and Recovery said it is ‘extremely disappointed’ that the union is balloting members for strike action while talks are ‘ongoing’ and accused the union of holding the residents of Doncaster to ransom.
Suez was awarded the contract to provide recycling and refuse collection services to Doncaster council at the end of June 2017. The company said during a consultation on the service there was ‘widespread support’ for a new commingled system of recycling, which will see a new blue bin introduced for all recycling materials, except for glass, which will remain in the green box.
Collections
Currently the council operates a separate collection system which involves a green bin for garden waste, green box for mixed recycling, a blue bag for paper, a clear bag for plastic bottles and a black bin for refuse.
Suez said, due to the ‘significant changes’ to the way recycling and waste is collected from residents’ properties, “there will unfortunately be a need for fewer staff than the previous source-segregated collections”.
Strikes on the refuse contract were called off in August after a long-term pay deal was reached, and both parties agreed to talks at the conciliation service Acas, over the proposed redundancies. (see letsrecycle.com story)
Shane Sweeting, Unite’s said: “While strike action will inevitably cause largescale disruption to the refuse collection service in Doncaster, I hope that the public understands that we are taking this action as a last resort and Unite is defending the long-term integrity of the service.
“If Suez and Doncaster council want to avoid this dispute from taking place then they must remove the threat of compulsory redundancies.”
Consultation
In a statement Suez claimed that as of mid-July this year, members of staff employed on the current contract received notice of the start of a ninety-day consultation period, which could result in redundancies in 2018. And, the company said talks with Unite, with Acas present, had been ongoing for the past month
Suez continued: “We are therefore extremely disappointed that Unite is balloting members for strike action while these talks are ongoing and cannot understand why they would take this course of action prior to the end of the consultation, as no decisions have been made.”
Suez continued: “It is also concerning that, despite being three months away, Unite proposes to effectively delay any future strike action until the Christmas period, when it will cause the most disruption to residents.”
“This is becoming a perennial occurrence and Unite should not continue to hold the residents of Doncaster to ransom like this.”
Doncaster council’s assistant director of environment, Gill Gillies, added: “We understand that Suez is consulting with its staff on the terms of the new waste and recycling contract, and talks are still underway with ACAS assistance.
“We urge all parties to keep negotiating in order to make sure that Doncaster residents aren’t negatively impacted by this dispute.”
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