The trade union Unite announced last week (29 June) that “bin collections in Bexley will halt during summer pay strikes”, which are set to begin on 12 July and last two weeks.
Unite said that it has rejected a pay rise of 8% offered by Countrystyle, reasoning that it is below the real inflation rate, and also because of the company wanting ‘to scrap’ longstanding job and finish arrangements.
Countrystyle has made its offer conditional on a revised interpretation of “job and finish” to which the union is strongly objecting.
Background
Countrystyle took over the Bexley contract from Serco in October 2021 – with Serco also having faced strikes (see letsrecycle.com story).
In a statement, Countrystyle Recycling said: “As part of the efforts to bring to an end the last strike by staff employed on the contract that took place in July-August 2021 [during Serco’s management], Countrystyle delivered to all staff, Unite the Union’s demand for, pay parity and a ‘fair rate for the job’. Countrystyle also increased all staff’s holiday entitlement to 25 days per annum from 1st Jan 2022.”
Unite then agreed to a further pay rise of 2% in April “or a higher percentage”, subject to the outcome of central pay and conditions negotiations between the National Joint Council (NCJ) and Local Government Association (LGA).
According to Countrystyle, all staff were awarded the 2% pay rise, followed by an additional offer of 6% on 25 May as national agreement had not been reached. This was backdated to April, with a further 5% pay rise “guaranteed” for next year.
Countrystyle said this represented a 13% pay rise over two years and 19% on average since October 2021.
Conditional
Countrystyle’s pay offer was made conditional on updating the current “job and finish” clause to “group task and finish”. The company explained that this ‘group’ approach means that “crews will be asked to help each other out, by collecting additional bins that may have been missed by another grouped crew, for example, due to vehicle breakdown or staff illness”.
Unite said that Countrystyle has already been making staff stay at work after their rounds have ended and that members have reported that CCTV monitoring is being used “to unfairly target workers”.
Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Countrystyle’s bullyboy tactics and refusal to put forward a cost-of-living pay rise leave our members with no choice but to strike.”
The company refuted the union’s claims, saying that “under no circumstances it is requiring staff to work longer than their contracted hours or refusing to pay overtime where this has been worked”, and adding that debrief times will fall within the contracted hours.
It reasoned that this change is to be made due to “its obligation to deliver an efficient and quality service to the residents”, meaning all bins are emptied on the allocated day for collection and returned to where they have been presented by residents.
1.1 emptying all bins presented in time by residents on their allocated day for collection, limiting the number of missed bins; and 1.2. ensuring bins are returned correctly to where they have been presented by residents
Countrystyle’s interpretation of ‘efficient and quality service’
‘Reasonable’
Countrystyle’s compliance director, Stuart Butler-Gallie, commented: “Countrystyle believes that its offer of an 8% pay rise for 2022 is fair, reasonable and sensible in the current economic climate where every company needs to act responsibly to avoid fuelling wage inflation, whilst recognising the challenges that its staff face through the squeeze on living standards.”
He continued: “Countrystyle is entitled to issue reasonable management instructions to ensure that it delivers an efficient and quality service to the residents of Bexley. This is not about scrapping employees’ contractual rights; it is about a modern interpretation of working together to deliver the service.”
‘Rightly asking’
Tabusam Ahmed, regional officer for Unite, commented: “Our members are rightly asking for a pay rise that keeps up with rocketing prices. In response, Countrystyle is trying to punish them by scrapping a long-standing agreement.”
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