Adur and Worthing bin strike: When will my bins be collected? Why did the strike happen? What happens now?

In a joint statement released by Adur and Worthing councils and the GMB, they said strike action would be paused to allow collections to resume, starting today.

When will my bins be collected?

Most residents are desperate to know when their bins will be collected. The council is picking up waste from flats and communal bin stores today, but has said normal collections will resume from tomorrow. For those unsure of their usual collection day, or whether they should put out their refuse (grey lid) or recycling (blue lid) bins, they can check the council website

Because of the Easter weekend pushing collections forward, it does mean some households will still have to wait two weeks before their refuse is picked up.

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Why did the strike happen?

The strike started on March 14

GMB members were striking over pay and conditions as they said the pay rise on the table was not enough.

Adur and Worthing councils started a review of the service in October and entered into negotiations with UNISON – the union it formally recognises.

As a result, the council offered staff in its refuse, recycling, and cleansing service pay rises of between 6 and 12.7 per cent, depending on the role.

But when the strike started, a GMB representative said the union had ‘serious misgivings’ about the offer.

The GMB agreed to pause its strike action after a vote by striking members at the council’s refuse, recycling and cleansing service at Commerce Way, Lancing, this morning.

Today’s statement confirmed substantive talks will begin tomorrow (Wednesday) on pay and conditions with both the GMB and UNISON.

What happens now?

This morning, crews are out collecting waste from communal bin stores such as those at blocks of flats. From Wednesday residents will be asked to put their bins out on their normal collection day and side waste will also be taken.

Street cleansing teams will be out as normal, as they have been working throughout the strike, to keep public areas clean.

A spokesman for Adur & Worthing Councils said: “At all times during this dispute it is our residents and businesses that have been in the forefront of our minds and we have been working to find a way that bin rounds can resume while we work through these very complex issues on pay and conditions within the service.

“We have now come to an arrangement with the GMB that means it will pause its strike which will allow the rounds to restart immediately whilst we move forward to discuss the issues surrounding pay and conditions.

“We thank residents and businesses for their patience and appreciate the difficulties this has caused them. Clearly this is not the end of the matter and there’s a lot to work through but for now we can quickly start to get the backlog of refuse cleared.”

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