However, Hills Municipal Collections has confirmed that employees who are members of UNITE have been balloted and have agreed to accept the company’s reviewed pay offer.
Hills says that this means that “two of the three unions in the Tri-Union recognition agreement have accepted the 7.1% pay rise offered and will not be taking part in the current strike action with GMB union members”.
Despite the pay offer being accepted by UNITE, Wiltshire council says the advice yesterday (9 March) to hold onto recyclables or put them in with residual waste until 21 March remains in place. Garden waste collections are also continuing.
A reminder that as a result of industrial action of some Hills Municipal Collections workers, we’ve made the difficult decision to not empty recycling bins (blue lidded bin/black box) until the service resumes on the week of 21 March.
(1/3) pic.twitter.com/ngqCiBfCw8
— Wiltshire Council #WiltshireTogether (@wiltscouncil) March 9, 2022
The offer is in line or ahead of comparable local pay
- Hills Municipal Collections
Offer
Confirming that UNITE had accepted the Hills offer, a spokesperson for the company said: “We are really pleased that UNITE members were able to come to this decision as the offer we put forward provides a fair settlement in relation to inflation and indexation, which we know is impacting the cost of living.
“The offer is in line or ahead of comparable local pay awards and it provides positive certainty in a time of increasing volatility.”
Employees who have accepted the offer will receive a pay increase of at least 2% backdated to October 2021, with an additional 5% pay rise from 1 March 2022. The annual pay review date has also been brought forward from October 2022 to May 2022, with the next annual pay review due to take place in May 2023.
The offer was also accepted by UNISON membership last week, but has been rejected by the GMB union whose members are on strike for two weeks.
Strike
The GMB union gave notification to Wiltshire council that its members will strike for two weeks from 7 March earlier this month.
The Hills workforce picture is complicated as some are members of other trade unions. UNISON members accepted the pay deal, Hills has noted. And, Unite accepted the offer yesterday.
The GMB balloted its members on a revised offer from Hills Municipal and they voted against accepting the offer.
GMB
As reported by letsrecycle.com, the GMB Union warned at the beginning of the year that more refuse strikes are likely in 2022 (see letsrecycle.com story).
The GMB warned that a shortage of drivers, increased work throughout the pandemic, and a rise in inflation have combined to cause a “perfect storm” which will lead to more refuse strikes.
Since then, strikes have taken place in Barrow, Brighton Coventry, Eastbourne and Wiltshire.
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