GMB union members working for Biffa will halt kerbside collections within Godalming, Farnham, Haslemere, Cranleigh and the surrounding areas
GMB, the union for refuse workers, have announced that their members working in refuse within the borough of Waverley will be taking three weeks of strike action, starting this morning [3 November].
The members, employed by the council’s waste contractor Biffa, rejected a pay deal this morning and immediately commenced the first day of picketing.
The dispute centres around pay, with members unhappy with the pay offer their employer has made, which falls well below the current rate of inflation.
Paul Grafton, GMB Regional Officer said:
“We have given Biffa plenty of notice that our members would be walking out if an acceptable offer was not forthcoming, as we’re required to do by law.
“Biffa did come back with an improved deal, but this still falls well below what our members need to keep their heads above water in these testing financial times.
“I’ve been looking around at what other contractors pay their similar workers, and I am yet to find a single local authority where the refuse workers are paid as low as what Biffa are offering our members.
“Any resident or local business that is unhappy with their bins not being emptied should contact their local councillor – perhaps the council might like to intervene to ensure that our members get paid a decent wage for this physically demanding, vitally important job that goes unnoticed until it stops being undertaken.
