Sheffield bin workers to go on four-hour strike next month over pay dispute

GMB Union said its members employed by waste firm Veolia Sheffield have voted in favour of industrial action in response to a 'below inflation pay offer' from Veolia, which amounted to a pay decrease in actual terms.

Veolia deals with the city’s rubbish on behalf of Sheffield City Council.

This means that the strike action on November 1 from 6.30am to 10.30am might affect more than 200,000 homes, with additional days planned.

Lee Parkinson, GMB Organiser, said: “GMB members working at Veolia have taken huge risks working all throughout the pandemic to help keep Sheffield moving – dealing with record amounts of waste as people work from home.

“It’s time to value them properly for the work they do.

"Politicians lining up to thank them won’t cut it; nor will a pay offer that amounts to a real terms pay cut.

"All they want is fair offer that at least keeps pace with their increasing cost of living and is not paid for with cuts to other terms and conditions.

“What they’ve been offered is an insult.”

This is not the first time that the bin collectors in Sheffield staged a strike over a pay dispute.

In 2016, members of the union at Veolia went on strike for several days, demanding a higher pay rise than what was offered by the company.

The GMB Union has also recently made headlines over a separate bin strike in Brighton and Hove, which resulted in piles of rubbish being dumped in the city’s streets over the past fortnight.