Bin strikes east London: Tower Hamlets strike ends as council payment offer accepted

A strike by refuse workers in an east London borough has ended after an offer by the council was accepted by union members.

Unite says all low-paid Tower Hamlets council workers will receive an extra £750, meaning an end to the strike action which began on September 18.

A further agreement means that around 50 agency workers will be brought in house by the end of December on full council terms and conditions.

More than 200 Tower Hamlets workers made up of refuse workers and street cleaners had rejected the national pay offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925, saying the offer amounted to a real terms pay cut.

The council said that last week private contractors were brought in after London Fire Brigade raised safety concerns about piles of rubbish building up.

Council refuse teams will return to work on Wednesday.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Council workers across east London are taking action to improve their pay and winning. The deals Unite has reached are another step forward in the battle to win better jobs, pay and conditions for local authority workers.”

A total of 23 local authorities have voted for strike action throughout the autumn.

Unite regional officer Nick West said: “The proposed strike action inevitably caused major disruption to bin collections and street cleaning services. This was entirely avoidable if managers had taken the situation seriously from the outset.

“Our members were determined to secure a fair pay deal so the intervention of the mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman played a part in helping to resolve this dispute.”

The deal follows an agreement in neighbouring Newham which headed off strike action.

Executive mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman said: “I want to thank all parties for coming to this agreement and, in particular, I want to thank our residents for their patience and apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.

“We found ourselves in a difficult position because the strike was over a national pay dispute. However, with no resolution in sight, we had to act to see if we could negotiate a local solution.

“We value our refuse staff and we have listened to their concerns to see how we can work constructively and collaboratively to resolve this dispute. Together, we will clear backlogged refuse and clean our streets as quickly as possible.”