The Unite union carried out a ballot with staff in our waste and recycling service for strike action relating to pay and conditions. Unite has informed the Council that they intend to strike from Saturday 27 August 2022 to Saturday 3 September 2022.
We have been in talks with the union since they announced the ballot to strike earlier this year. Over this time we have listened to what has been said and actively looked for various solutions to deliver a positive agreement for our staff and for residents.
We appreciate the valuable role that all of our staff play in delivering essential services for residents. With this in mind, we have to work on a consistent and fair basis for all Newham staff, not just our staff in the waste and recycling service. We must take a Council-wide approach on any changes to terms and conditions. We also need to take into account the Council’s financial position and consider affordability in any solution we are able to agree with the unions.
It is essential to us that we continue to deliver services our residents want and need and are committed to continuing to talk with the Unions and employee representatives to ensure this happens.
We are taking forward independent conciliation facilitated by ACAS – the national body that works to resolve workplace disputes. Discussions were held today and progress has been made.
We have put forward dates for further discussions next week.
We’re sorry for the disruption but we are doing all we can to minimise it and resolve this dispute.
The claim raised by Unite
We have made significant progress in our discussions so far:
[1] For sick pay to be paid on contractual Saturdays following or preceding bank holidays
We have agreed that we will review the treatment of this time for those staff who are absent as a result of illness and we are actively working with union representatives to agree the detail around this.
[2] An increase in overtime rates to double time on Sundays and time and a half on all other days
We have made the union aware that we are committed to a review of overtime rates and allowances. This will be for all staff across the Council in all service areas.
Unite have been provided with a timeline for a corporate review of this matter which allows us to review this in a fair way for all staff across the authority. Depending on agreement with all the trade unions representing Newham Council staff, wider consultation and the Council’s governance process we hope that this could be completed in six months.
[3] A retention payment of 10% of annual basic salary
The council understands that both our residents and our staff are seriously affected by the cost of living crisis and this is having a real impact.
We are already a London Living Wage Employer. It is calculated independently to reflect the high cost of living in the capital, giving a worker in London and their family enough to afford the essentials and to save.
We have also benchmarked the wages of our Waste and Recycling Teams against other London Councils and this has shown our staff are paid competitively.
In addition, this year we made a payment to all waste lorry drivers of a £2,000 recruitment and retention allowance, as there is currently a national shortage of HGV drivers.
We have also offered all of our frontline staff the opportunity of a fully funded HGV driving course to increase their earning potential.
However, we are not able to set pay awards in isolation at Newham as we, like other Councils, are bound by the national negotiations. The National pay offer is currently a £2,229 increase for all staff across the whole Council. Applied in Waste and Recycling this would equate to up to 9.9% for operatives or 7.8% for HGV drivers.
What will happen during the strike?
Prior to, during and for several weeks after we expect waste, recycling and street cleansing services to be disrupted.
Waste and recycling from houses is unlikely be collected during the strike period if we do not have sufficient members of staff in work to run the services. Our aim is to prioritise waste collection and cleaning services on the main roads and estates, particularly blocks of flats (to avoid any fire risk).
What to do with domestic rubbish during the strike
To assist in reducing waste on the streets will be setting up a number of drop off points. Between Saturday 27 August and Sunday 11 September, residents can take their bagged household rubbish to one of the following Temporary Waste Drop Off Sites at:
- Little Ilford Park Service area, Reynolds Avenue E12 6JU
- Shaftesbury Road Car Park, 85 Shaftesbury Road, E7 8PD
- Church Street Car Park in front of shops, 30-46 Church Street, E15 3HU
- Freemasons Road / Coolfin Road Car Park in front of shops, 78 Coolfin Road, E16 3BE
The Temporary Waste Drop Off Sites are open daily, 7am to 8pm
Jenkins Lane re-use and recycling centre is also available for residents to take their waste to.
Jenkins Lane, Barking, IG11 0AD. Open daily from 7.30am – 5.45pm.
If you can’t go to a Temporary Waste Drop Off Site
Waste and recycling will be due for collection on the next scheduled collection day. All waste will be cleared including any extra.
Services may be running behind when the next day collection is due, because of the extra volume of waste to collect and the impact of the bank holiday.
We advise residents if they have space in their bins they can use them as normal. Try to contain waste within your bin or inside your property to avoid issues with pests.
Please store any extra bags that you generate within the boundary of your property, do not leave any rubbish on the road, side streets or in alleyways.
How to reduce your waste
We’ve put together a range of ideas of how waste can be reduced. You’ll find these at www.newham.gov.uk/wasteadvice
For further updates please visit www.newham.gov.uk/wasteadvice