Tower Hamlets: Rubbish piles set to be cleared as strike ends with pay deal

Waste collection in Tower Hamlets has been suspended for more than a week

Rubbish piling up on the streets of an east London borough is set to be collected after refuse workers agreed a new pay deal with a council.

Members of the Unite union working for Tower Hamlets Council began their strike action on 18 September in a dispute over pay.

A union representative told BBC London collections would resume on Wednesday.

The council previously said it had been in an "ongoing dialogue" to seek a resolution.

The union said more than 200 refuse collection and street cleaning workers had taken part in the action.

Nick West, Unite's regional officer, said workers were willing to do overtime to clean up the streets.

Rubbish is piling high near Brick Lane

One resident of Bow told BBC London the area had deteriorated into a "rubbish yard".

"There are bin bags and rubbish everywhere, rats everywhere," Geoffrey White said.

"It's disgraceful that we are being treated like second-class citizens like this."

He said the area near the local market was particularly badly affected with "piles of rubbish" continuing to grow.

Brick Lane, one of the borough's main tourist spots, has been strewn with rubbish

Chris Dyson, a businessman in Tower Hamlets, said the scenes in Brick Lane and across the borough were "absolutely shocking".

"This is going to take a lot of time to clear up properly [and] to disinfect and not just scrape clean to make it safe," he said.

He urged Tower Hamlets mayor, Lutfur Rahman, to pay the workers a "decent wage".

Harry Low, BBC London reporter in Brick Lane

The stench is the first thing that hits you. A stomach-turning stink which is enough to leave people pinching their noses.

Almost every bin is overflowing. The pigeons, wasps and rats are having a field day.

"Disgusting", "revolting" and "appalling" are just some the words on the lips of those making their way through the rubbish that is strewn along Brick Lane.

There is leftover curry, rotting eggshells and food containers everywhere as the wind spreads waste all across this usually vibrant part of east London.

Earlier this month, Unite said its members rejected a national pay offer of a flat-rate increase of £1,925. The union said this amounted to a real-terms pay cut when inflation was factored in.

Unite's Mr West added the strike had been "a direct result of local government employers failing to value workers and failing to reward them for their hard work".

However, negotiations with Tower Hamlets Council on Monday ended with the offer, which Unite members have now voted in favour of.

The council said it was "disappointed" by the strike action

When the strike was originally announced it had been due to end on 1 October but was extended for two weeks, a Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said.

The council hired staff to collect some rubbish while the strike was ongoing, which is normally not allowed under strike rules.

The spokesperson said: "However, following concerns from the borough's fire commander last week that the accumulation of refuse was becoming a serious safety issue, the council begun employing private contractors to help with the backlog of waste."

Rubbish piles have appeared across the borough

Mr West said the national pay negotiations are with the government through the National Joint Council, which represents a number of local authorities collectively.

However, councils can reach deals on at the local level. Newham announced on Friday it had avoided a bin strike through "intense negotiations" with Unite.

A strike was also called off in Sheffield after a deal was agreed with the council and the GMB union.

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