Sheffield bin strikes: Veolia workers to walk out, bringing refuse collections 'to a standstill', says Unite

Unite the union claims the planned industrial action by its members, between July 29 and Friday, August 2, will bring bin collections in the city to a ‘standstill’.

Unite said drivers and loaders were ‘furious’ that their employer, Veolia, which provides the service for Sheffield City Council, was refusing to recognise the union for collective bargaining - despite Unite’s membership representing around 80 per cent of the workforce at the Lumley Street depot.

Why are refuse workers going on strike?

Unite said Veolia claims another union, the GMB, is already recognised as the sole trade union, despite not representing the vast majority of the workforce.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is absurd that a union representing 80 per cent of a workforce is blocked from making collective bargaining arrangements by an employer, especially one it has national agreements with up and down the country.

“Our members are rightly angry at such game-playing and having exhausted all negotiations are taking to the picket line to state their case. Unite will be backing them one hundred per cent of the way.”

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Unite said it had a national bargaining agreement with Veolia across numerous depots around the UK but without an agreeement in place in Sheffield the union cannot negotiate on behalf of workers over issues like pay, conditions and safety.

Unite regional officer Shane Sweeting said: “Strike action will inevitably result in rubbish piling up across Sheffield. Veolia needs to understand the depth of anger among our members and urgently come back to the negotiating table prepared to accept that Unite is the union it needs to formally recognise.”

What has Veolia said?

A spokesperson for Veolia said: “We are disappointed that Unite the Union have not respected the Trade Union Congress Code of Conduct and request that they engage with the TUC to resolve this inter union dispute as a matter of urgency.

"At Veolia’s Sheffield Integrated Waste Contract we have a long-standing recognition agreement with GMB, with the majority of the workforce being GMB members.

“We acknowledge and respect the right of our people to be members of a trade union and remain committed to fair representation and delivering outstanding services to Sheffield."

Veolia added that Unite represents 47 per cent  of the workforce at Lumley Street (not 80 per cent, as claimed) and 39 per cent of the overall workforce across the collective bargaining unit.

It said both figures meant the union does not have the requisite membership for recognition.

What did Sheffield City Council say?

Councillor Joe Otten, chair of the council’s waste and street scene committee, said: “We are very keen to offer support where we can so that there is minimum impact on the public.

“If any industrial action takes place, we will work closely with Veolia to make sure that customers receive clear communication about any changes to their collections caused by the action.

“We are encouraging both Unite and GMB unions to talk together to resolve this situation as soon as possible.”

Unite said it had around 100 members at the Lumley Road depot in Sheffield and there were only about 120 there in total. It said it was not an inter-union spat as it had ‘no problems’ with the GMB being recognised as long as it is too.

A two-day strike by refuse workers in Sheffield had been planned for September 2023 but was called off at the eleventh hour after the GMB accepted a new pay offer.