GMB Gearing Up For More Sussex Refuse Collection Strikes

The GMB Union, which represents refuse, recycling and street cleaning services in Sussex, has warned more strikes are on the cards in Worthing, Adur and Hastings.

On their website yesterday (Feb 22), the union announced it had given Adur and Worthing Council three weeks notice to negotiate with them over pay and working conditions, or face a strike beginning March 14th. 

They say the strike will affect up to 82,000 homes "unless the council’s Chief Executive and Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources, Paul Brewer, decides to engage with GMB and resolve the pay matters at hand."

Mark Turner, GMB B50 Branch Secretary said: 

“Strike notice has been issued and given the Council refuse to meet us formally and negotiate a settlement, just like we saw in Brighton and in Eastbourne, Adur and Worthing will see resident’s rubbish go uncollected and the town centres and communal streets uncleaned.

“Even though both Catherine Howe (Chief Executive) and Paul Brewer (Director for Digital, Sustainability & Resources) seem to want to bury their heads in the sand, we’re issuing a stark warning that they have three weeks to speak to us or it’ll be rubbish that they’ll be buried in.

“We remain ready to negotiate but are also of course very well prepared for action.”

Gary Palmer, GMB Regional Organiser said: 

“Strike action is always our last resort, but GMB are experienced negotiators and are also very experienced at organising direct action.  It’s up to the officers at Adur & Worthing Council which way they want to play it.

“Perhaps the elected councillors should think about bringing pressure to bear upon Catherine Howe and Paul Brewer to encourage them to formally speak with GMB sooner rather than later, as they operate with delegated authority and instruction from the elected councillors to run council services on their behalf in the first place.  

“I suspect that if we do indeed see a prolonged dispute, this decision not to engage with GMB may come back to haunt these elected officials come election time in May.  If the residents are unhappy with rubbish on the streets and on their doorsteps, they should think about contacting their councillors and letting them know how they feel.”

Late last night the GMB tweeted:

Adur and Worthing Councils have set up a "fact finding" page on its website for residents to keep up to date with planned strikes and how the council intends to respond.

The council said it started a review last October to look into pay, contracts and working conditions.

They say that they've been "comparing our pay rates, terms and conditions with similar local authorities nearby".

"So far this exercise has shown us that in our refuse, recycling and cleansing service, our grades and salary bands for key roles (including refuse lorry loaders, cleansing staff and HGV drivers) are very similar to those of nearby authorities.

"While in most cases hourly pay for core hours is similar, the total salaries paid to staff differs depending on working hours and working patterns. For example, in some councils the refuse, recycling and cleansing staff work bank holidays or work a longer week (eg 41 hours rather than 37). These factors affect total salaries."

"All staff have the opportunity to give us their thoughts and we are working with UNISON, which is the legally recognised union to represent staff across the Councils' services.

"We agreed to meet with GMB representatives to hear what their concerns are. Unfortunately the GMB would not give us the details of what it says its members are unhappy about. We will only officially negotiate with the recognised union but we will listen to, and take into account, the views of anyone involved, which certainly includes the members of the GMB at the depot. But it is important again to note that we do not have a recognition agreement in place with the GMB."

"While we hope that any strike action can be avoided, we will share our contingency plans to minimise the effects of a bin strike in the coming days".

https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/bin-strike/ - for more information.

The GMBs final tweet of the evening stated:

Updates to follow.