First day of Wealden strike action begins on bank holiday

Refuse workers employed by Biffa at Wealden District Council began their strike over pay at the Biffa depot in Amberstone Road, Hailsham, this morning.

GMB, the union for refuse and recycling workers, described Biffa’s actions as “unprofessional” and claimed it has been moving trucks to other depots and bringing in agency workers in an attempt to break the strike.

The union is demanding pay rises across the service which would put loaders on £12.50 per hour, LGV drivers on £14.50 per hour and HGV drivers on £17.50 per hour. 

Refuse workers at their Hailsham depot this morning

The strike was due to start last Monday but was paused after Biffa offered a new pay deal to workers. This offer was said to be short of GMB’s expectations.

Gary Palmer, GMB regional organiser, told The Argus: “Our disappointment is in two things, the talks we have held with Biffa have felt very disingenuous, we have gone in and sat down before being told there is no money and that it’s their final offer before we have had a chance to negotiate.

“That’s unprofessional and certainly will not bring about a resolution. We hoped they’d bring a resolution before strike action, that hasn’t happened but GMB are ready to talk."

The strike is now set to last up to four weeks and the GMB is warning of further action “if necessary”. Some 65,000 households will be affected by the strike action.

Mr Palmer added: “We will issue further dates if necessary depending on if Biffa continue to ignore us. What is really worrying, we know they have moved vehicles from the two sites that were picketed to other sites.

Pictures during the recent strike in Adur and Worthing

“They have moved them to Hastings which is concerning as that is another authority. That could see escalation. They are trying to break the strike by doing collections from another depot.

“All that is doing is escalating the issue. That’s not going to resolve it, the only thing that will resolve it is getting round the table and having meaningful negotiations.

“If they look at Brighton, Eastbourne, even Adur and Worthing, all three of those authorities tried to bluff it out and ignore us. It will grow worse, rubbish will start to pile in the streets even if they get some vehicles out. They will not be able to deliver the full service.”

Biffa has previously stated that it is in “active and ongoing” negotiations to reach a solution as quickly as possible.

A Biffa spokesman said: "We are working hard to minimise disruption following the decision by some of our colleagues to go on strike. We will continue to try and resolve the dispute as soon as we possibly can."