Wiltshire recycling collections suspended over strike action

GMB union members have rejected the offer that UNISON and UNITE members have accepted

Recycling collections in Wiltshire have been suspended for two weeks after some workers voted to strike over pay.

UNISON and UNITE union members working for Hills Municipal Collections have now accepted a 7.1% pay increase.

However, GMB members in the county have rejected the pay rise and their strike continues.

As a result, Wiltshire Council and Hills will temporarily suspend recycling services in order to prioritise household waste collections.

Employees who have accepted the offer will get a pay increase of 2% backdated to October 2021, with a 5% rise from this month.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), protests were held outside depots in Trowbridge and Salisbury on Tuesday morning, with waste collection vehicles unable to get through the crowd.

Councillor Dr Mark McClelland, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for waste said: "This has had a knock-on effect on our collection services.

"One of our contingency plans, which we hoped we wouldn't need to implement, was to temporarily suspend recycling services.

"This means we can prioritise general waste collections, and people should leave their general waste bin out at 07:00 on their usual collection day, and it will be emptied - though it may be a day or so late."

Workers strike action over pay has had a knock-on effect on collection services

Residents are being asked to use their local recycling centre which is operating as normal, or to keep their kerbside recycling back and take their black boxes and blue-lidded bins in until their scheduled collection day after 21 March, when services are expected to resume again.

The change does not affect general household waste or garden waste collections.