Sheffield bin strike: City council assures public that disruption will be ‘kept to a minimum’

The city's waste collectors are set to go on strike on November 1 over a pay and conditions dispute after they voted in favour of industrial action following a 'below inflation pay offer' by Veolia.

Veolia is a firm that deals with the city's rubbish on behalf of Sheffield City Council.

Councillor Paul Wood, executive member for housing, roads and waste management, said the council was 'working closely' with Veolia and assured members of the public that no other collection days would be impacted.

In a statement, he said: “Following the announcement of planned strike action from waste and recycling collection staff affecting Monday collections in November, we are working closely with Veolia to ensure all available resources are being used to keep any disruption to residents and their bin collections to a minimum. No other collection days will be impacted.

How will the bin strike affect collections in Sheffield?

“Residents should continue to put their bin out for collection as normal, and further information will be provided next week to advise residents what to do if their bin collection is affected on Monday, November 1.

“We value the huge contribution of waste collection workers and recognise the incredible efforts they have made to keep our services running throughout the pandemic, and thank residents for their patience during this time."

GMB Union in a statement yesterday said its members employed by waste firm Veolia Sheffield had 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.

Are any further strikes planned?

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 the workers need to be valued properly for the work they do as they have ‘taken huge risks working all throughout the pandemic’ – especially having had to deal with record amounts of waste as people work from home.

This is not the first time that bin collectors in Sheffield have staged a strike over a pay dispute. In 2016, the union members went on strike for several days, demanding a higher pay rise than had been offered by the company.