"Sheffield bin strike": Industrial action suspended after new pay offer to union

A four-hour walk out by the city’s bin collectors was scheduled for Monday (November 15) over an conflict between contractors Veolia and the GMB union.

It was a prelude to a permanent strike that was set to take effect next week (November 22), and comes after a similar four-hour strike was held last Monday.

Now, the union action has been put off, with normal service set to resume tomorrow.

BACKGROUND: Everything you need to know about the Veolia worker strike affecting the city

Veolia issued a statement this afternoon, Friday, November 12, confirming the planned strike action had been put on hold.

The GMB said industrial action, which would have affected more than 200,000 homes across the city, had been suspended so it could ballot members on a new pay offer from the company.

Veolia said: “We can confirm that following a meeting with GMB union representatives, the proposed strike action by the GMB union has been suspended. Residents’ waste and recycling collections will operate as usual on Monday 15 November and residents should put their bins out on their scheduled collection day.

“Our crews will be working across this weekend, so where residents’ bins have yet to be emptied we ask that they continue to leave them out until their waste has been collected. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the delays in collection.”

GMB members had previously rejected a pay offer from Veolia of a three per cent increase in year one and three per cent in year two, claiming this was unacceptable as inflation was now running at five per cent.

Union leaders said the firm had come back with an improved deal, which would now be put to the vote, of a three per cent increase in year one, a one-off £250 payment for each employee and a further 3.5 per cent rise in year two.

Veolia advised householders to visit www.sheffield.gov.uk/waste or follow @Recycle4Shef on Twitter for the latest updates about recycling and waste collections, which residents have reported are still being disrupted due to the backlog created by Monday’s strike.