Wiltshire bin strike picket line behaviour 'shameful'

GMB union members began their planned two-week strike on 7 March

The GMB union claims one bin worker was knocked to the ground by a bin lorry while he was manning a picket line and two other members were also struck.

Union members are on strike over a pay deal with Hills Municipal Collections which runs the Wiltshire service.

Wiltshire Council alleged some of the picket lines had been blocking depot entrances and condemned the "shameful" behaviour of some on the picket line.

Hills said it would provide its on board camera footage to police.

Andy Newman, GMB Branch Secretary for Wiltshire said: "One individual, who works for Hills in Salisbury, was literally knocked to the floor by a bin lorry that allegedly sped up as it approached him, and two individuals who were hit by that truck have received treatment in hospital.

"Even at low speed, a waste truck in contact with a pedestrian is a serious threat to safety."

The union then asked Wiltshire Council to join them in a public call for respect and safety, BBC Radio Wiltshire's Dan O'Brien said.

'Safety at risk'

Instead, the Conservative controlled Wiltshire Council condemned the union's picket line positions for endangering people's safety.

The council said GMB members had allegedly part-blocked site entrances, further disrupting the service after recycling collections were suspended.

Richard Clewer, leader of Wiltshire Council, said: "We completely respect people's right to strike, but we believe the actions of the GMB union at the picket lines have not been in the best interest of their members and are seriously putting people's safety at risk.

"We fully agree with the GMB when they say that health and safety is of paramount importance but their actions at this time are contributing to putting the safety of both their members and the vehicle crews at risk.

Depot scenes 'unacceptable'

"Vehicles should not be being blocked from leaving our depots and picket lines should be positioned in a safe legal place.

"The number of pickets should not exceed the number of people allowed for in the accepted guidance.

"The scenes we've seen at our depots have not been acceptable."

Hills Municipal Collections said the behaviour of some people on the picket lines was "shameful".

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

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

GMB members in the county have rejected the pay rise and their two-week strike continues.

As a result, Wiltshire Council and Hills said they had temporarily suspended recycling services in order to prioritise household waste collections.

Employees who have accepted the offer will receive 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 and waste collection vehicles were unable to get through the crowd.

Residents are being asked to use their local recycling centre which is operating as normal, or to store their kerbside recycling 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.