Brighton bin strike: city council hopes to find a resolution and avoid industrial action

The GMB union announced yesterday (Tuesday) that Brighton’s City Clean refuse, recycling, commercial waste, and com-bin HGV drivers had voted to take strike action.

The union said the strike vote came after an ongoing dispute with the city council over 'enforced driver removals, changes of duties, crew variations and alterations in plans around the collection of dropped work' which had 'a detrimental impact on the HGV drivers health and well-being at the city’s Hollingdean depot'. READ MORE: Bin strikes: Brighton and Hove bin lorry drivers vote for two-week strike action | Brighton & Hove Independent (brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk)Brighton and Hove City Council has moved to restate its commitment to working with unions and staff to ‘resolve the dispute and provide a good service to residents’.

A council spokesperson said: “Covid has had a detrimental impact on the health of Cityclean staff and has seen many unavoidably having to take time off because of being unwell or needing to self-isolate.

“The country also now faces a national shortage of HGV drivers due mainly to EU HGV drivers no longer being able to obtain visas to work in the UK.

“Combined, we know these factors have created pressure within the Cityclean service and we thank all Cityclean staff who have continued to work incredibly hard in these challenging and unprecedented times.

“To provide the best service for the city and to support staff, there are occasions where it’s felt appropriate to make crew changes or move a member of staff from one round or crew to another.

“We believe these requests are made openly and fairly and any concerns about round changes are quickly responded to by managers.

“We take the concerns of staff seriously, which has seen officers make a number of recent commitments and offers to GMB and drivers for them to consider.

“Meetings are planned to continue over the next few weeks where we hope to have positive discussions with GMB with the aim of: mutually agreeing a resolution; avoiding industrial action; and achieving our shared vision of a city where we tackle waste and recycling together, continue collaboratively with Cityclean modernisation plans and provide the best service for residents.

“We look forward to being able to continue these discussions with the GMB and once again reiterate our commitment to finding a positive resolution for both staff and the city.”