A meeting will be held on Monday between the unions representing striking refuse collectors and their bosses.
Refuse collectors in Allerdale began industrial action in May over pay.
Members of the Unite and GMB trade unions say they deserve parity with their colleagues in Copeland and Carlisle, which now fall under the same authority – Cumberland Council.
The workers are employed by Allerdale Waste Services, a company owned by the council.
It said its employees were awarded a 10.1 per cent pay rise on April 1 this year, based on the Foundation Living Wage (a higher rate than the National Living Wage).
Allerdale Waste Services said that it and the authority have set up the meeting with trade unions “to make every attempt to resolve the current ongoing strike action”.
Following a meeting with Unite and GMB on Tuesday July 4 – at which the unions put forward a variety of proposals – Allerdale Waste Services confirmed what it was able to accept and what required further consideration.
The firm confirmed it was able to accept:
- Drivers’ hours reduced from 44 to 39.5 per week and their hourly rate increased to ensure no financial loss.
- Loaders’ hours reduced from 39 to 37 per week and their hourly rate increased to ensure no financial loss.
- Overtime to be paid at time-and-a-half rather than plain time.
- Current ‘task and finish’ ways of working will end.
- Dignity at work training for all Allerdale Waste Services employees
Allerdale Waste Services and the council have organised the follow-up meeting to discuss all the proposals.
The company said it had offered unions further improvement to terms and conditions in paying double time for bank holidays, the provision of days in lieu of bank holidays worked plus four additional days leave on June 1.
The union’s original demands were that they wanted to see the same hourly rate paid as the former Copeland Waste Services staff receive, but without any reduction in hours worked.
Allerdale Waste Services said: “This would not provide parity across the waste service which the unions are calling for. It would represent an uplift of 32 per cent for drivers and 19 per cent for loaders and as well as being unaffordable, would exceed the salaries paid in other areas.”
Charles Holmes, managing director of Allerdale Waste Services, said: “Since the industrial action started, we have collected 82 per cent of all domestic waste on the designated weekly day.
“Where we have missed a collection, we have either returned the next day or later in the week or collected with excess waste the following week. Our collection rate for the last two weeks has been 99.66 per cent.
“From 27 April 2023 to date, 4,470 tonnes of household waste have been collected from the former Allerdale Borough Council area, compared to 4,736 tonnes for the same period last year – this demonstrates 94 per cent of residual waste has continued to be collected during this period of strike action, and that Allerdale Waste Sevices alongside Cumberland Council has worked hard at keeping this essential service going.
“We appreciate the patience that residents have shown during this challenging period.
“There has also been a significant increase in the amount of garden waste and recycling received at our Allerdale-based household waste recycling centres demonstrating that residents are fully utilising the alternatives made available by the service.
“There has been a 46 per cent increase in garden waste and a 32 per cent increase in other recyclables including paper, cardboard, plastic, tins and glass.”
