Worthing Bin Strike And Pay Agreement Set To Cost Councils More Than £1million

Councillors are set to discuss the cost of a recent bin strike and pay agreement which looks set to top £1million.

Around 60 waste and cleansing workers walked out between 14 March and 8 April over pay and conditions.

Although an agreement was reached between the councils and the two unions representing workers (GMB and Unison), the strike and the associated salary review has had ‘significant unbudgeted cost implications’.

In June, members of Adur and Worthing Councils’ Joint Strategic Committee will hear the total cost of the bin strike and resulting pay agreement.

The grand total is £1,818,790, according to a report to the JSC, though existing contingency budgets for pay agreements bring the net total to £1,071,340.

Lost income and clean-up costs

Both councils lost a total of £452,190 in income due to legal fees, refunds for customers, and the extra cost of dealing with waste during the strike. 

Salary savings and not having to pay tipping charges bring the net loss to £170,980.

The councils also agreed to pay £900 to each worker to clear the ‘collection backlog’, costing £142,560 in total. 

A commercial waste collection is also offered by the council and business cancellations have cost nearly £140,000.

It is thought this could see around £65,000 of lost income per year going forward.

The newly agreed salary package for the workers will also cost the council £609,000 more than it did before the strike. 

Future budget pressures

The councils have had to spread the cost over three years.

A total of £178,120 had to be factored in to the budget or reserves for 2020-21 and the council’s chief executive released £580,610 in reserves to address the cost for 2022-23. 

But the councils will need to find at least £312,610 during the 2023-2024 financial year and possibly beyond.

This could potentially take funding away from other services or be funded through a council tax increase.

Conservative councillors criticised the Labour group for supporting striking workers.

Kevin Jenkins, who was Worthing Borough Council leader at the time, called the strike ‘unnecessary’ and said it was an ‘inter-union turf war’.

But WBC’s new leader Beccy Cooper disagreed.

Speaking on her first day as council leader, she said:

“As a Labour council we are absolutely committed to people having a fair, decent, living wage.

“We have excellent finance officers who are costing a salary review.”

When asked about the ongoing cost of the strike, Dr Cooper said that local councils had been ‘starved of funding for ten plus years’.

“We’re balancing very tight budgets but that doesn’t mean to say that we can’t offer the very best wages we’re able to whilst continuing to say local authorities are really, really stretched,” she said.

“If we have unhappy, underpaid, neglected staff, we’re not going to be able to provide our front-line services – it’s nonsensical.”

Deputy council leader Carl Walker said refuse workers had done ‘tremendous work’ over the past few years and ‘especially during covid’.

The JSC’s June meeting can be watched via livestream here: https://democracy.adur-worthing.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=1706&x=1