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Wiltshire bin strike starts as workers fight for pay rise

BBC GMB refuse workers on strikeBBC
The two-week strike is the second part of the refuse workers' planned industrial action

A two-week bin strike has started in Wiltshire as GMB union members campaign for a pay rise.

Hills Municipal Collections said workers were initially offered a 2% rise amended to 7% over two years.

GMB's Gary Palmer said in practice that only amounted to a 3.5% rise across two years whereas workers wanted 7% to help with increases in the cost of living.

Wiltshire Council has advised people to put their bins out as normal during the industrial action.

Mr Palmer said the strike was "quite simple, it's about low pay".

"Our members have been working through the pandemic and haven't seen a pay rise since 2019.

"They relied on their employer giving a decent pay rise and they put 2% on the table."

He said: "It's disappointing that its come to this.

"We tried very hard [and] last week we tried to put a new offer to our members which Hills are saying now constitutes 7%, but it's not."

GMB refuse workers on strike holding the GMB southern region flag
Mr Palmer said "sometimes our members have no choice" but to strike

Mr Palmer said the company had added another 5% on "and said 'that's the next pay deal as well', so it's now 7% over two years they're offering which is 3.5% per year and that's just not enough".

Mr Palmer said other low paid workers like NHS and shop workers all deserved a decent pay rise and "we'll be trying to fight the corner for those people as soon as it comes round to their pay anniversaries.

"But, at the moment, it's this sector that seems to be the one really looking for a correction of what we consider is a very low, poverty pay scale".

A refuse truck with Hills branding and Wiltshire Council partnership logo
GMB members want a 7% pay rise to be offered in a one-year deal, not spread out over two years

A spokesperson for Hills Municipal Collections said the strike action was "a very disappointing outcome".

"We have moved our offer considerably over the previous weeks and we firmly believe that the pay offer provides a fair settlement in relation to inflation and indexation, which we know is impacting the cost of living", it said.

The company and Wiltshire Council said they would work together to minimise disruption and asked users to visit the council website for service updates.

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