Statement from Beau Stanford-Francis, Director of Public Realm
Newham Council’s waste and recycling staff returned to work today (Tuesday 4 October) following two weeks of strike action.=
Over the last two weeks we have prioritised waste collections and cleansing services on the main roads and estates, particularly blocks of flats to avoid any fire risk. During the strike action, a number of our waste and recycling staff stopped striking and came back to work to help with collections and I am grateful to them for doing so. I would also like to thank our street cleansing team for their hard work over this strike period.
This week our priority is collecting general waste which means recycling collections are currently paused. Our thanks go to residents for their patience and understanding during this time. This strike action has had a real impact on our residents and we apologise for this. Service updates will be provided on our website – www.newham.gov.uk/wasteadvice and on the council’s social media channels.
We are continuing talks with Unite to resolve this dispute. We have a meeting with Unite later this week and have further talks facilitated by ACAS scheduled to take place on 12 October. We hope a positive outcome can be found as the council has already agreed to the majority of Unite’s pay claims. These include:
- Sick pay: Unite has asked for sick pay to be paid on contractual Saturdays following or preceding bank holidays. This has been agreed.
- Overtime rates: Unite asked for all staff to be paid at time and a half, except Sundays to be paid at double time. This has been agreed.
In addition we have offered additional payments for working the bank holidays “pickup” collection period. The council has made an offer of £100 per Driver/Operative for each of the 8 Bank Holiday weeks relating to the additional work that is required on those weeks.
This year, we made a £2,000 recruitment and retention payment to all HGV drivers as there is currently a national shortage of HGV drivers. The council has offered to extend the drivers recruitment and retention payment for 2023.
Unite has also asked for a 10% pay increase on top of the national pay award. This is not something that we can agree. The National pay offer is currently a £2,229 increase for all staff across the whole council. While agreed nationally, it is paid by Newham Council. This national offer has been agreed by the Unison union and is out to consultation with the GMB and Unite unions.
We believe that this offer is a fair deal and recognises the important work our waste and recycling staff undertake. We now need to put an end to the disruption of this vital service for our residents and will continue to work with Unite to ensure this happens.