The council is working with Tom White Waste, the waste firm it acquired in 2020, to carry out collections in the short-term.
Each a member of the union Unite, the 70 HGV drivers have been on strike since 31 January due to a dispute over low pay, meaning recycling collections have been suspended.
While the strikes were due to end on 24 March, Unite says 94% of the HGV drivers who took part in a ballot voted to renew the mandate for industrial action.
All-out strike action will now recommence on 28 March and run through the spring, including during the local elections in May when 18 of Coventry’s councillors will be elected.
In a statement, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Rank incompetence and a catalogue of failures by Coventry council mean this strike will continue into the summer.
“The dispute could have been easily settled with capable council leaders.”
Tender
Coventry had given local business Tom White Waste a short-term contract worth £2 million to carry out fortnightly residual waste collections until 31 March.
This service was extended to include blue-lidded bins for recycling from yesterday (22 March), with collections to take place on alternate weeks to residual waste collections. Garden waste collections remain suspended.
The council has also now tendered for a “single supplier” to carry out waste collections for six months from 1 April to 30 September.
The tender also suggests the possibility of two six-month extensions.
Coventry
Representing an estimated population of more than 430,000, Coventry city council had a household waste recycling rate of 34% in the 2020/21 financial year.
Coventry’s waste collections are carried out in-house by the council. When the strikes began, the council erected a series of ‘pop-up’ disposal points across the city (see letsrecycle.com story).
In early February, Unite’s Sharon Graham warned that her union’s financial support for the Labour Party was “under review” as result of the dispute.
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