Bin strikes called off in Bromley and Croydon

Bromley and Croydon refuse collectors have called off a planned three-day strike from July 22-24 after accepting a pay offer from employer Veolia Environmental Services.

Members of trade union Unite made the decision to accept a 2.25% pay rise for two years as well as improved holiday and sickness entitlements at a meeting on Friday (July 12).

This is despite the fact that Unite initially rejected this offer last week after ACAS talks with Veolia last Tuesday (July 9).

Unites regional officer Onay Kasab last week told letsrecycle.com that the talks were a farce and that there was no way their offer was going to come anywhere near to settling the dispute (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, speaking to letsrecycle.com on Friday (July 12) Mr Kasab said members had now agreed to accept Veolias offer and he congratulated members for their campaign.

He said: In light of the improved offer, members have decided to accept. While as a union, Unite believe that Veolia should be making people offers in line with the cost of living RPI is 3.1% we are a member-led organisation and it is a large sacrifice for our members to take three days strike action.

We would like to congratulate our members for a successful campaign and making it clear that we are prepared to take action. They started with nothing, but our members made a stand and the original pay offer has been improved – that would not have happened if our members had not taken part in this campaign.

A spokesperson for Veolia Environmental Services said: We are pleased to confirm that our refuse and recycling services to residents in Bromley and Croydon will continue operating normally as Unite have accepted our revised offer which includes a 2.25% pay increase, both this year and next, and some enhanced benefits.

Croydon borough councillor Phil Thomas, cabinet member for highways and environmental services, said he was “pleased” that crews agreed to accept the “very realistic offer from Veolia”.

He said: “Strike action would have only served to cause significant inconvenience for many local residents. To keep disruption to a minimum we had been working closely with Veolia to see they ensured any uncollected rubbish was picked up as soon as possible.

Refuse workers in Camden also took part in the talks with Veolia, but have not balloted for strike action. According to Mr Kasab, Camden members will this week take part in an indicative ballot over whether to accept Veolias improved offer.

West Wiltshire strikes

West Wiltshire refuse collection crews are set to take part in a second day of strikes over pay next Monday (July 22), as well as a ban on overtime from July 23 until 20 August, union GMB announced today (July 15).

Union members first went on strike last Monday (July 8), followed by an overtime ban from July 9-14 in a dispute over pay with employer FCC Environment (see letsrecycle.com story).

FCC Environment holds a contract worth around 2.2 million per year to operate the waste collection services in West Wiltshire, which covers the towns of Bradford on Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge, Warminster and Westbury and the surrounding rural areas.

Carole Vallelly, GMB regional officer, said FCC Environment has asked for a meeting with refuse workers this Wednesday (July 17) and that GMB members would meet the following morning to discuss the next course of action.

She said: Obviously if an offer is on the table we will be able to call off strike action if the members vote to accept. However the last time the company asked for a meeting was merely to tell us again that there would be no offer, so we’re keeping our options open.

The strike next Thursday and the overtime ban is the next step in this dispute. The members are very solid in support of action. At a meeting on Friday 12 July we discussed a wave of action over the summer until we get a satisfactory offer.