The dispute over pay began in February and resulted in almost 30 days of industrial action where bins were not collected.
This morning (21 April), GMB members voted to accept the joint councils’ latest pay offer, which Adur & Worthing say will see new pay grades established for some workers, improved weekend and bank holiday pay for cleansing crews, and an increased specialist skills payment for HGV drivers.
The move came after talks ended yesterday between the councils and the two recognised unions within the waste service, Unison and GMB.
Under the deal, the service’s bin crew loaders will be moved to the top of Grade 3 of the Local Authority Pay Scale, which equates to an annual salary of £22,129. Cleansing drivers will move to the top of Grade 4 and receive £24,920.
The council says an “already implemented” skills payment for HGV drivers will be increased from £2,700 to £3,500.
GMB says the deal means a salary increase of 8.2% for refuse loaders and 10.4% for cleansing drivers and will see some HGV drivers emerge with a raise of 20.7%.
‘Dedication and determination’
Adur & Worthing say talks to end the strike could not begin under industrial relations practices until the union had been through an official recognition process, which would allow it to join the already recognised union Unison in jointly representing staff.
This is a tribute to our members and their dedication and determination
- Gary Palmer, GMB regional organiser
GMB “eventually” accepted this and signed the joint deal on 8 April, from which time the councils say they have been working “tirelessly” to find an “acceptable” deal to end the strike.
The councils had already agreed with GMB last week that their strike would be paused to deal with the backlog of waste building up on the streets while talks were ongoing.
Gary Palmer, GMB regional organiser, said: “This is a tribute to our members and their dedication and determination to win an award that properly reflects the hard work they put in every day, and especially over the last two years.
He added: “Now they have a deal which is not below inflation, but instead reflects market rates for this sort of work and keeps them ahead of the cost-of-living crisis.”
Mr Palmer thanked residents and businesses within Adur and Worthing for their “support and understanding” throughout the dispute.
Adur & Worthing
Adur district council had a household waste recycling rate of 41.1% in the 2020/21 financial year, while Worthing borough council’s rate was 41.5%.
A spokesman for Adur & Worthing councils said they were “pleased” that all parties had found a way to end the strike.
They said: “At all times we have sought to find a way to recognise the excellent work staff at this service undertake while being mindful that our budgets are tight and that we also have to protect other services. We think we can do that with this deal which gives extra remuneration for staff.
“What we and our staff want to do now is continue the catch-up to remove the backlog from our streets as soon as possible.”
The spokesperson said the councils would “reach out” to commercial customers who have had to seek alternative arrangements during the strike and would work on re-establishing green waste collections as soon as was “practicable”.
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