Eastbourne bin strike: Second day of action after pay offer rejected

Refuse truck drivers in Eastbourne have gone on strike for a second day after a pay offer was rejected.

Eastbourne Borough Council offered a 7% pay increase, which the GMB union said fell short of its demands.

A council spokesman said the union was demanding an increase of 25% for drivers, although the union said the figure is around 20%.

The union also said it would add a further five days of strike action to it's existing plans later this month.

The first day of action was held on New Year's Eve, and the GMB said members will walk out again on Monday.

In total, a further eleven strike days are planned for late January.

A council spokesman said the local authority had made the 7% offer to drivers and a 3% rise for other staff.

In 2019 all staff received a 4% increase in pay, with a further increase of 2.75% in 2020, he added.

Annual leave had also been increased from 20 days to 25 days for all staff.

The GMB said the council's comments were "misleading".

"All our drivers want is the going rate for HGV drivers - so they can make ends meet in an expensive part of the country," Declan MacIntyre, GMB organiser, said.

He said at a meeting between the union and council, "they offered drivers approximately £12.30 per hour - a far cry from the drivers' claim for £13.50 per hour - still considerably lower than the industry standard".

"For the council to offer well below that shows they're not serious about their workers and not serious about preventing disruption to 50,000 Eastbourne residents," Mr MacIntyre said.

GMB officials also told the BBC the union would hold a ballot of members in Adur and Worthing with a view to possible strike action.

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