Newham: Bin collection workers begin strike in east London over pay

Refusal workers in east London are to go on strike for a week over a pay dispute.

Around 130 Unite members in Newham, including loaders, sweepers and drivers, will walk from Sunday 27 August until 3 September.

The union said its members did not feel recognized for their efforts and demanded a 10 percent pay rise.

Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz, said the council had given workers a £2,229 rise for all Council staff, equivalent to pay rises of between 7.8% – 9.9% for those in waste services.

Ms Fiaz said the union’s demand for a 10% pay rise from the current £22,850 salary would cost the council an extra £1 million a year and it could not afford it.

According to the BBC, around 99% of workers who took part in the vote voted to leave, with a turnout of 81%.

Unite regional officer Steve Edwards said the union was asking for 10 per cent because of the pay freeze.

He said: “What we are asking for locally is a payment of 10 per cent of the normal wage and that is to take into account the various wage freezes that have happened to deny workers over a period of time.

“They are among the lowest paid in Newham Council and generally live in and around London, which is quite expensive to do.

“There’s been a bit of a sense built up since the pandemic that they’ve been out in all circumstances doing that job and they don’t feel like they’ve been recognized for it.”

Ms Fiaz said in a statement: “If the week-long strike continues, it will cause waste and recycling collections to be disrupted for several weeks as the service area catches up with the backlog of collections in the neighbourhood.”

She also added: “Put simply, the Council does not have this level of spare cash as all our money is spent on vital services for all our Newham residents.

“That’s why we’re campaigning for Newham to get more money and a fairer funding deal from the national government because of the needs of our people, who are increasingly facing daily hardship due to the cost of living crisis.”

She said senior council officials had held talks with the union in a bid to stop the strike before Saturday.