Refuse drivers in Barking and Dagenham belonging to workers’ union GMB will continue their strike over pay this month, with services expected to be disrupted for 22 days between 13 May and 7 June.

Waste collections have already been badly disrupted recently, following two week-long strikes in the past two months. GMB claims it is taking the industrial action over the council’s decision to reduce ‘regular contractual pay’ by around £1,000 a year, while introducing new high-level posts elsewhere in the council.

This claim was refuted by the council, which stated that the reduction was not in salaries, but in ‘overtime to carry out prestart (safety) inspections’. GMB has stated that this is erroneous, and that cuts will affect regular pay as well as pensions.

It warned that the dispute arises ‘from the council cutting corners on the safety of refuse vehicles’.

As such, GMB has announced that its drivers will strike for 13 days from 6 a .m. on Wednesday, 13 May until 10 p.m. on Monday, 25 May, followed by a further nine days’ strike from 6 a.m. on Saturday, 30 May until 10 p.m. on Sunday, 7 June.

However, drivers belonging to Unite and Unison will not be on strike, after they agreed a settlement with the council earlier this month. GMB had refused to the settlement – which involved a reduction in overtime from 30 to 15 minutes (starting in November) and an average one-off goodwill payment of £500 for each driver – as it is seeking a 20-minute overtime slot as well as a £5,000 one-off payment for each driver.

Councillors blamed for ‘intransigence’

Keith Williams, GMB Regional Officer, commented: “There is an elitism and imbalance within the council in dealing with the impact of this dispute.

“The council [is] ensuring that the overspill of refuse is kept to a minimum in specific parts of Barking. However, the same does not apply within Dagenham, which has more residents in social housing.”

Williams blamed councillors for “encouraging a two-tier borough” and argued they are “letting down the communities who elected them to public office”.

Williams concluded that GMB has therefore “lost trust and confidence” in the lead councilors in this dispute, and called on the council to “challenge” the perceived intransigence by the lead councillors. The council, however, notes that the pay decision was made by the full council at an assembly meeting in February, and that it was uncontested.

Williams concluded that GMB is “prepared to listen to any new proposals the council may have”.

Council urging householders to take waste to ‘clear up points’

The council has not issued an official statement about the dispute, but has urged residents to drop off their recycling and waste to ‘clear-up points’ during the strike days.

Drop-off points will be situated at the following points from this Wednesday.

• The Leys, Dagenham, RM10 9YP (a car park off Ballards Road on the edge of the Leys park);
• Wivenhoe Road, Barking, IG11 0RE (the site of the disused garages);
• The Shaftesburys, Barking, IG11 7LB; and
• Lawn Farm Grove, Chadwell Heath, RM6 5NJ (a car park behind the surgery).

The sites will be open between 7.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, and between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Opening hours at the household waste recycling centre at Frizlands Lane off Rainham Road North in Dagenham will also be extended to cope with the delays in kerbside collections, and more council staff will be assigned to clearing areas of fly-tipping.

Find out more about the GMB pay dispute in Barking and Dagenham.