People living in Wirral have been warned to expect disruption to their usual bin collection services before and after Christmas as chilly weather conditions combined with staff strikes leads to mass cancellations.
More than 200 Biffa employees on the outsourced Wirral Council contract have announced 15 days of strike action at the end of the month after their calls for a 15% pay increase were not met.
A Wirral Council spokesman said: "Industrial action by Biffa staff, combined with last week's prevailing icy conditions on some side roads and pavement areas, is continuing to have an impact on kerbside waste collections in Wirral."
READ MORE: Bin workers announce more strikes in Wirral after Christmas
Crews returned to work on December 12 following five days of strikes from December 5 to December 10. General waste collection was prioritised throughout all of last week to address the accumulated rubbish, with collections of recycling bins being suspended as a result.
Residents whose general waste bin wasn’t able to be collected on their regular scheduled day were asked by Wirral Council to leave it out to be collected at the next opportunity.
The council spokesman said: "Generally, this has worked well, however there are still some outstanding collections. The advice for residents whose green (general waste) bin was not collected on their regular collection day, Monday to Thursday, is additional collection crews that have been set-up will endeavour to collect them week commencing December 19 (today). Residents should leave their bins out and Biffa will empty them as soon as possible.
"If their regular collection day was Friday – they should put it out again today. If it isn’t collected then, they should report it to the council after 5pm."
Normal services are expected to return this week, but will be cancelled yet again due to the planned action by Biffa from December 28 to 30, and January 3 to 6, which coincides with another strike by Veolia staff at the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority.
Furthermore, residents whose regular collection day would fall on Boxing Day and were due an earlier collection on Christmas Eve will see this collection cancelled.
Residents who subscribe to the garden waste collection service, whose pick-ups were missed during Biffa's first round of industrial action, will also see their rearranged pick-ups cancelled "unless there is a resolution to the dispute".
The council spokesman said: "To that end, we understand negotiations are continuing between union representatives and Biffa management today and into next week. Council officers are also in regular dialogue with Biffa management in an effort to speed up a possible resolution to this industrial action."
Unite the Union, representing Biffa staff, called the strikes "a stand to end low pay rates", as HGV drivers receive just £11.95 an hour, refuse operatives £11.50, and street operatives £10.76.
Unite regional officer John McColl said: “The escalation of the dispute will lead to further disruption of refuse collections across the Wirral but this dispute is a direct result of Biffa’s stubborn refusal to pay its workers fairly.”
A Biffa spokesman said: "A pay offer that is well above inflation has been rejected by Unite. If further strike action goes ahead, we will work closely with the council to minimise any disruption to services."
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