In a statement this morning (27 May), the East Sussex-based council explained the collections were only possible “following intervention by the police today to enforce lawful access to and from the depot, which had until now been blocked by the picket line.”
Police handcuff the @GMB_union regional official Gary Palmer and GMB organiser Declan McIntyre on the Wealden bin workers' picket line. The union leaders cannot allow this to happen. Workers should walk out across the council. #Solidarity pic.twitter.com/FARaw9ruQW
— Socialist Worker (@socialistworker) May 27, 2022
On Twitter, the Socialist Worker newspaper posted pictures of police arresting union workers as tempers boiled over.
The Conservative-run council added that if access to the depot is maintained, Biffa will “assess the options for continuing to operate a limited refuse bin collection service for households in the southern area of Wealden.”
Strike action began in Wealden on 25 April in a dispute over pay. Unison workers, also employed by Biffa, have accepted an offer and returned to work. However, an agreement is yet to be struck with the GMB Union.
Despite the GMB saying a “deal is close”, it said the most recent offer has been rejected by 98% of workers. It has given notice to the council that the strike will continue until 11 June.
‘Pop-up’
In recent days, the council has also erected ‘pop-up’ sites for residents to deposit waste at.
However, due to the limited staff available, “Biffa are unable to deploy these collection services and operate the pop up waste sites at the same time.”
Biffa says it will focus on trying to complete rounds where possible, because they need to collect more waste in a day. This would also enable them to reach residents that may not have means to transport their waste to a pop-up site or the local tip.
The collections have been focused on areas with the most properties in, mainly the southern area.
Advice
Wealden has advised residents to leave out residual waste for three business days after collection, and then bring it in if not collected.
Bulky and clinical waste services are operating as normal.
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