Pay rise win after strike threat

The threat of strike action by refuse workers in the London borough of Bromley has led to a ‘double your money’ pay offer which sets an example for other firms providing outsourced local government services.

About 100 workers, employed by waste disposal giant Veolia, had threatened three days of strikes after overwhelmingly rejecting a one per cent pay offer.

Now after talks at the conciliation service Acas, the company’s improved offer of two per cent has been accepted.

The stance of the refuse collectors – members of Unite – has been described as a wake-up call for companies used by local authorities in England that they don’t have to slavishly adhere to George Osborne’s notional one per cent annual pay cap for public sector workers.

Unite national officer for local government  Fiona Farmer said: “It is ‘a smell the coffee’ moment for those outsourcing companies which view local government contracts as a massive money-spinner at the expense of those that actually do the work on behalf of the local communities.

Great victory  

“This is a great victory and a true example of solidarity by our Bromley members. It shows that these companies don’t have to kow-tow to the pay dictats of George Osborne”, she said.

Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: “The threat of strike action brought the company to the negotiating table and the result is a one year two per cent pay offer on all hourly rates backdated to April 2015.”

He added: “We also gained a significant increase in sick pay. It was the very real threat of strike action that led to the improved offer.

Stinking rubbish

“The campaign at Veolia benefited from the Bromley council strike campaign – the proof was the visit to the depot by leading Bromley councillors worried about the anger of residents over uncollected stinking rubbish.”

Unite has said that this dispute was another example of the flawed nature of the controversial authority’s mass privatisation programme which relies on cutting services and slashing wages.

The Conservative-dominated council is committed to becoming a commissioning council and reducing the number of council employees from 4,000 to 300 – despite having £130 million in reserves.

The dispute comes against the backdrop of a Fair Deal For Local Government campaign by Unite’s London and Eastern region which has almost 300,000 members.

The campaign is aimed at combatting privatisation and austerity in local government and carries a set of proposals to ensure that quality services are maintained and that there is no ‘race to the bottom’ for pay and conditions.