Collection crews at the Merseyside council previously took to picket lines from 5-10 December. The Biffa workers will now strike from 28-31 December, 3-7 January and 16-21 January.
The news compounds a disruptive festive season for residents of the Wirral, with Unite announcing last week that members employed by Veolia at Merseyside’s 22 household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) are also set to strike after Christmas (see letsrecycle.com story).
Unite claims the Biffa workers are striking because HGV drivers on the collections contract are paid £11.95 an hour, refuse operatives £11.50 and street operatives £10.76.
The workers seek a 15% backdated pay increase to “reset their pay rate” and “tackle the cost of living crisis”.
Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Biffa is a highly wealthy company and can fully afford to offer its workers a decent pay rise. It is greed, not need, which is preventing it from doing so.”
A Biffa spokesperson told letsrecycle.com Unite had rejected a pay offer that was “well above inflation”. “If further strike action goes ahead, we will work closely with the council to minimise any disruption to services,” they added.
Negotiations
In an update to residents issued on Friday (16 December), Wirral metropolitan borough council said it was “still working through the precise details” of the potential impact on new strike dates.
If further strike action goes ahead, we will work closely with the council to minimise any disruption to services
– Biffa spokesperson
“We understand negotiations are continuing between union representatives and Biffa management today and into next week,” the council said.
“Council officers are also in regular dialogue with Biffa management in an effort to speed up a possible resolution to this industrial action.”
A council spokesperson told letsrecycle.com they would like to see a “speedy resolution” to minimise the impact on residents.
The spokesperson added that the action taken by the workers employed by Veolia at the three HWRCs in the Wirral – Bidston, Clatterbridge and West Kirby – would “affect” residents. However, they said Veolia held its contract with the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority and so Wirral metropolitan borough council could not comment.
The Wirral
Representing an estimated population of more than 320,000, Wirral metropolitan borough council had a household waste recycling rate of 31.9% in the 2020/21 financial year.
High Wycombe-based Biffa has managed recycling and refuse collection services on behalf of the Merseyside borough since 2006. In 2015, Biffa signed a 10-year contract extension worth around £115 million which runs to 2027 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Unite members employed by Biffa in the Wirral previously went on strike in April 2020, claiming the company had failed to take the workforce’s concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic seriously (see letsrecycle.com story).
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