THURROCK Council remains extremely disappointed that Unite the Union has taken its members out on what the council is describing as “unnecessary, disruptive and potentially damaging and costly strike action” from Tuesday 13 April.
A Thurrock Council spokesperson said: “Discussions are still ongoing with all three Trade Unions and directly with staff, and the council is urging Unite the Union officials to play a more meaningful role in the ongoing formal consultation process on proposed changes. The review of allowances was an approach agreed fully by all Trade Unions and signed as a collective agreement with the council.
“Continued claims that the council is cutting the annual salary of staff who work in any council service are simply untrue. Proposed changes will impact staff across the council, not just those in the waste service, and for the vast majority this is a positive change. Overall the Pay Review, including the current proposed changes to allowances, result in 93% of council staff being better off financially than they were before the pay review began. As part of the consultation the council will look at agreeing an approach to compensate any of the 7% of council staff who may end up impacted negatively by the review of allowances.
“Unite the Union have informed the council that their members will be on strike from 9am every working day between Tuesday 13 April and Friday 7 May. This means they will be working less than half of their normal collection day which starts at 6am. During that time the council will try to ensure one full round of household waste collections will still take place every day.
“Thurrock Council has contingency plans in place to deal with household waste collections and minimise disruption for residents caused by strike action taken by Unite the Union members in Clean and Green, Highways, and Fleet and Waste teams over the next three weeks.
“The collection of general waste, including food waste, will be prioritised to minimise the impact of the strike for residents. This applies to all households in Thurrock including low and high-rise blocks with communal bin stores.
During this time please:
put your bin grey or green bin out for collection on the normal day
put food waste and smaller items of garden waste in with general waste
compress recycling as much as possible
Further information and updates will be available at www.thurrock.gov.uk/bins-notice
Good luck to every worker particularly the bin workers who have received minimal to no support during the pandemic. Lorries not steam cleaned; no toilets to use on the rounds as cafes etc closed, are just some of the neglect they have experienced. This despite working throughout the pandemic.
Now extra allowances are being cut e.g. driver maintenance before starting work; unsocial hours pay cut; resulting in reduction of the workers pay.
They are not asking for extra money, but are striking to keep the pay they currently earn. This in the face of the exorbitant salaries paid to top managers as detailed above.