Serco and Unite end Bexley bin strikes, but delays remain

Around 140 Serco employees walked out on July 12 over issues surrounding pay and victimisation, causing nearly two months of chaos, waste piling high and also prompting local outrage.

But Unite, the union behind the strikes, has this week ratified a pay deal with Serco which they hailed as a "major win."

Bexley Council said the strike was suspended last week following lengthy talks at ACAS between the two parties, and will be relieved that the 'summer of stink' will not be continuing on to October as threatened.

Bins have piled up for over seven long weeks in Bexley, prompting fierce local frustrations

Staff are now back working hard to catch up, although it will reportedly still take several weeks to collect the backlog of materials that built up during the dispute, meaning food waste collections are still suspended.

• Residents 'angry' as 'awful' stench grows and bins pile high in Bexley

Unite regional officer Tabusam Ahmed said their members had "refused to be cowed by the immense pressure" from Serco and the council, and said the dispute should be a lesson that these key workers cannot be abandoned and ignored.

The deal includes a one-off £750 payment for 19 staff who were allegedly missing pay, contract changes reducing pay disparities and steps to prevent the weaponization of the drug and alcohol policy.

Unite also said they had made an agreement with Countrystyle Recycling, who are taking over Serco's street cleaning and collection contract for Bexley in October.

Bexley's Serco workers on strike last month

Previously it was reported that Bexley's bin workers received some of the worst pay in the capital, below the London Living Wage.

This deal will see pay rates improve, with the lowest paid workers receiving a pay rise of 11% to £11.50 an hour, above the London Living Wage of £10.85.

Some drivers, previously on £22,000 a year because of Serco’s failure to pay workers according to stipulated pay scales, will see their wages increase to more than £30,000 when they transfer to Countrystyle.

The deal with Countrystyle also sees staff receive an extra five days annual of leave as well as 12 weeks of industrial injury sick pay that was denied them by Serco.

Unite's Tabusam Ahmed said: “Our members refused to be cowed by the immense pressure put on them by Serco and Bexley council. Nobody wanted to take strike action but both Serco’s and Bexley council’s actions left them no other choice.

“Fortunately, an agreement has now been reached and Unite looks forward to working productively with both Serco and Bexley council now the strikes are over.

“But this dispute should be a lesson to Bexley council that workers who deliver services on behalf of the local authority cannot just be abandoned and ignored because they are outsourced to private companies who have race to the bottom employment practices.

Bexley Council will hand over the borough's waste collection contract to a new company in October - PA

“The agreement with Serco is a major win for our members, as is the agreement with Countrystyle, both of which were achieved due to strong union organisation.

“The fact that Bexley refuse staff are now moving from the worst comparable pay rates in London to some of the best is a prime example of why workers looking to improve their wages and conditions should join Unite.”

Garden waste collections resumed on Tuesday, but because the service was suspended during the dispute, crews are collecting exceptionally high volumes of garden waste and it will take longer to empty the bins of all those residents who pay for the service.

For the time being, food waste collections are still suspended, and residents can still take their recycling to one of the many mini recycling sites in the borough. Please go to another nearby site if the containers at a site you visit are full.

Cleaning of residential roads has also resumed now that staff have returned to work.