Penrith bin workers to strike over pay

The GMB Union is calling for refuse services in Penrith to be taken in-house by the local council

Rubbish in part of Cumbria could go uncollected for two weeks after refuse workers voted to strike over pay.

The GMB Union said its members in Penrith, including drivers, loaders and cleaners, would take industrial action from 2 to 13 October.

It added they wanted "fair pay" for the work they carried out.

Urbaser, which provides waste services in the area on behalf of Westmorland and Furness Council, said it hoped to "re-engage" in constructive talks.

A pay rise is needed to help ease the cost-of-living crisis, according to GMB regional organiser Michelle Hall.

"All these workers are asking for is fair pay," she said. "They deserve a decent wage for the vital work they do.

"The only realistic way to achieve this is to bring the service back in-house, but Urbaser bosses don't want to hear it.

"We are happy to talk any time to resolve this dispute."

Disruption 'frustrating'

Andy Turner, regional operations manager at Urbaser, said the company had been officially notified of the strike at its Eden depot.

"We hope to re-engage in constructive discussions with GMB Union in the near future, but in the meantime we wish to reassure residents that our main priority remains the continuity of frontline services," he said.

Westmorland and Furness Council said it was "obviously disappointed" negotiations between the union and the contractor had not found a resolution.

It added: "We appreciate that this will be frustrating for our residents in the Eden area.

"At this stage, the advice to residents is to continue putting out your blue bags for collection on your scheduled collection day.

"Urbaser have informed us that they are prioritising services to ensure collections of residual waste [blue bag]."

It stressed the strike would not impact recycling or green waste collections as they were subject to a different contract.

Waste, recycling or green waste collections in the Barrow or South Lakeland areas of Westmorland and Furness will also not be affected.