Waverley bin workers begin three-week strike over pay

Refuse workers across Waverley are to strike between 3 November and 23 November

Bin workers across Waverley have begun a three-week strike over pay.

The walk out began after GMB union members working for Biffa, the council's waste contractor, rejected an improved pay deal.

Kerbside collections in Godalming, Farnham, Haslemere, Cranleigh and the surrounding areas will halt until 23 November.

A spokesman for Biffa said it offered its employees a pay offer that is "significantly above inflation".

Paul Grafton, the regional officer for GMB, said: "Biffa did come back with an improved deal, but this still falls well below what our members need to keep their heads above water in these testing financial times.

"I've been looking around at what other contractors pay their similar workers, and I am yet to find a single local authority where the refuse workers are paid as low as what Biffa are offering our members."

Biffa said it was doing "everything we can with our partners at Waverley Borough Council to continue delivering services and to bring the dispute to an end as soon as possible".

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