Bexley strike action ends as code of practice agreed

Strike action began on 12 July and has been on hold in the borough since 28 July while negotiations between the pair take place with the conciliation service ACAS.

At the centre of the dispute has been the “job and finish” perk. The union said plans to change the policy to “group job and finish” were “bullyboy tactics”.

Countrystyle, however, said the move was a “modern interpretation of working together to deliver the service” (see letsrecycle.com story).

Unite said it had called off the strike after workers voted to accept a pay deal “that also protects their terms and conditions”.

The deal “protects” the long-standing job and finish clause in the workers’ contracts, Untie says, and ends set debrief times.

Code of practice

In a statement issued last week, Countrystyle said discussions had taken place to agree the detail of a “collaborative working code of practice”.

The company said the code of practice was intended to set out a “clear basis” on which all staff, “including management and those providing front-line services”, can work together to deliver an “efficient and quality service to Bexley residents, whilst preserving staff’s existing contractual rights”.

Coutrystyle added that Unite members have accepted the existing offer of a 6% pay rise (back dated to April 2022) on top of the 2% already paid to staff from 1 April 2022.

In addition, Countrystyle has agreed a “one-off payment to all staff employed on its street services contract in connection with acceptance of the collaborative working code of practice”.

Countrystyle’s compliance director, Stuart Butler-Gallie, said: “Countrystyle is delighted that, after very constructive discussions with Unite during August, facilitated and assisted by ACAS, a pragmatic and workable outcome has been agreed.

“The Code of Practice recognises that all staff need to work together to change what are perceived as historically ‘entrenched’ attitudes on both sides in order to deliver a quality service whilst respecting operational challenges faced by staff.”

Red line

Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, said Countrystyle’s original offer “came with strings attached concerning terms and conditions”.

“This was a red line for our members,” she said. “By standing together in their union, members’ terms and conditions were protected and an acceptable pay rise was finally put forward.”

In its statement, Unite said it negotiated an 8% pay rise backdated to April as well as a £450 one-off payment for more than 100 workers.

The deal, according to Unite, also “protects a long-standing job and finish clause in the workers’ contracts, which the company was trying to scrap, and ends set debrief times”.

The union added: “Measures to improve working practices and industrial relations between the workforce and management are also being introduced”.

Bexley

With a population of nearly 250,000, the London borough of Bexley had a household waste recycling rate of 50% in the 2020/21 financial year.

Sittingbourne-based Countrystyle won a 10-year collections contract with Bexley in July 2021 (see letsrecycle.com story). This marked Countrystyle’s first move into domestic waste collections, although it has worked directly in the local authority sector on household waste recycling centres (HWRCs).

Countrystyle took over from outsourcing giants Serco, which also faced strikes during the course of its contract (see letsrecycle.com story).