Adur & Worthing Bin Strike Ends Today Following New Pay Deal

Members of the GMB Union, which represents refuse collectors in Sussex, have this morning (April 21) voted to accept the joint councils’ latest pay offer and suspend their strike action.

The GMB says the pay deal will mean an increase of 8.2% for refuse loaders on top of the pay award previously offered and accepted by members of Unison.

Cleansing drivers will see their pay rise by 10.4% above the previous offer, with some HGV drivers set to emerge with 20.7% more.

Workers will see their pay increase immediately and the council has committed to 'complete a job evaluation process on HGV driver and phase leader roles, with these changes to be implemented within three months'.

The union says that, although the strike will be called off immediately, workers will go straight back on strike until November if any of the new commitments are not honoured 'within the agreed time period'.

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.

“It would have been very easy for them to just accept the award that they were offered, but they collectively decided to say: ‘No, I’m worth more than that.’

“They were told this was a great deal and they decided to judge for themselves what they are worth, and now 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.

“The union would again reiterate our thanks to the residents and businesses within Adur and Worthing for their support and understanding throughout this dispute.

“Our members are of course committed to continue the cleaning up process that has already begun, and will have this carried out as soon as possible.

“This once again shows the value of being in a union, and the message is clear: anyone else looking to improve their pay should give GMB a call."

A spokesman for Adur & Worthing Councils said:

"We are pleased that all parties have found a way to end this strike and thank residents and businesses for their patience during this difficult time.

"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. We will be reaching out shortly to our commercial customers who have had to seek alternative arrangements during the strike and we will be working on reestablishing green waste collections as soon as practicable after the backlog of residual and recyclable waste has been tackled."

Statement from Clir Kevin Jenkins - Leader of Worthing Borough Council 

"I welcome today's ending of the strike by some staff in the council's refuse, recycling and cleansing teams and look forward to the staff getting on with the job in hand and especially clearing the backlog of rubbish in our town that their strike actions have caused. 

"Ever since December when the GMB union first came to the council, officers had been very clear with the GMB that in line with good industrial relations practice, a new joint negotiating agreement was required to include all the unions.

"After months of going back and forward, whilst declining to engage on this point their members went on strike on the 14th of March; after the additional support of the TUC and ACAS, this point was finally conceded by the GMB and a new agreement struck on the 8th April. Thereafter in a very short period of 13 days an agreement has been reached.

"This agreement has given the staff a generous pay deal, one which will have implications going forward on the Council's budget, as this is not a simple one-off payment, but one in wages terms that will have to be met year on year. This will require budgetary changes and service redesign that hopefully will release funds to service this increase, otherwise it will have to be raised through the local council tax precept.

"It should be remembered that Worthing Borough Council only receives 15% of the money that residents pay in their council tax (the rest goes to WSCC and the Police & Crime Commissioner) and therefore any excessive pay increases place a disproportionate burden on local services.

"This strike, which was publicly supported by the Worthing Labour group and councillors, wasn't needed and could have been avoided if the GMB had followed industrial relations good practice much earlier. The strike has placed further additional costs on the council in providing some of the limited external contractors it could call on to service waste collections, as well as in lost revenue terms from the Green bin and Commercial waste
service. All of which is local taxpayers' money that could have been used elsewhere in the town.

"Finally. I would like to thank all the residents and businesses who will have faced 8 weeks of disruption, something that neither they deserved, nor the council wanted. I would especially thank those residents who have stepped up and helped their neighbours by taking much of the residual waste to the local amenity tip, this along with the hard work of the street cleansing teams has helped keep our streets a lot tidier than they may have been."