Bin collections suffer amid war of words

South Tyneside Council and workers from the GMB union are in a bitter dispute

Bins collections are stuck in a backlog despite a temporary pause in a long-running dispute between workers and their council bosses.

The latest stalemate has erupted into a war of words between South Tyneside Council and the GMB union in recent days.

The local authority has accused GMB of not responding to its concerns about waste services.

But a GMB spokesperson said "any ongoing collection issues are down to mismanagement of the service".

Workers in South Tyneside have been involved in several rounds of industrial action over bullying allegations since November.

On Wednesday, the council put out a press release expressing "frustration and disappointment" about collection backlogs.

It said that earlier this month agreement had been reached with the GMB for staff to temporarily return to "normal and established working practices" from 7 May.

This pause in strike action was to provide a "period of respite and stability and support the delivery of an action plan" in order to resolve the dispute, the council said.

'Shocked and surprised'

But Stuart Wright, the council's director of place and communities, said bin workers are only completing around 55% of their normal rounds, "meaning they are almost a week behind".

He said the council had told GMB to make clear to the workforce about what is expected of them "but unfortunately we have had no response".

The GMB said it was "shocked and surprise" by the council's decision to publicly issue a "misleading" statement.

In a statement, the union said: "Whilst there is an ongoing dispute over bullying and harassment in the service, GMB pause planned strike action following discussions with the authority.

"No industrial action of any kind has taken place for weeks.

"Any ongoing collection issues are down to the mismanagement of the service, mismanagement that the GMB have been highlighting for over a year."

Mr Wright said the council is exploring all options to "clear the backlog and get the service back on track".

"We have stressed to the GMB the need for them to work with the crews and the council to get the service back on track for our residents."