Wiltshire’s recycling collections are currently on hold after GMB members began a two-week strike over pay on 7 March (see letsrecycle.com story).
UNITE and UNISON union members working for Hills have accepted a 7.1% pay increase, but this was rejected by GMB.
Hills claims a GMB union representative has “incorrectly stated” that employees are on £9 an hour and have not had a pay increase for four years.
In a statement, Hills said: “We can confirm that all Hills Municipal Collections employees currently earn over £9 per hour, and Hills’s offer will see salaries increase by at least 7.1% between October 2021 and 1 March 2022.
“Prior salary increase for this bargaining unit was in April 2019 (between 2% and 5.95%) and not four years ago. Due to the pandemic, no pay review was offered in 2020.”
Hills also says the delay in accepting the pay offer has caused “real time delays to employees’ pockets” as they have gone without the pay rise that was due to them in October 2021.
Accounts
Meanwhile, GMB has called on the family-owned Hills Group to provide the union and its members access to the line-by-line management accounts.
The Hills Group of companies covers waste management, recycling, aggregates, concrete, and building new homes. Hills Municipal Collections is one arm of the group.
GMB claims the Hills Group’s latest accounts show a “massive income”, which has provided a dividend of more than £9.8 million over the past five years to the Hills family.
Shareholder funds during the same period are £80 million, GMB says.
‘Pleading poverty’
Nicky Nixon, GMB regional organiser, said: “To enable GMB and its members to understand the economics of the contract it is essential that the company opens the books to the union.
Despite pleading poverty, GMB research shows that the Hills Group is in receipt of £530 million of contracts
- Nicky Nixon, GMB regional organiser
“This means access to the line-by-line management accounts for the contact. The money involved is all public money.
“Despite pleading poverty, GMB research shows that the Hills Group is in receipt of £530 million of contracts with an estimated annual value of £34.7 million – just under 10% of Wiltshire Council’s total annual spend.”
Wiltshire
Wiltshire council awarded a contract for the collection waste and recycling to Hills Municipal Collections in 2018 (see letsrecycle.com story). According to GMB, the contract is worth an estimated £105 million over nine years.
The service includes black bag waste, recyclables, and green waste, as well as clinical, bulky waste and bin deliveries.
Hills collects waste and recycling from more than 220,000 homes in Wiltshire, excluding Swindon.
Representing an estimated population of more than 500,000, Wiltshire council had a household waste recycling rate of 42.3% in the 2020/21 financial year.
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