Striking Havering bin workers will demonstrate in front of their local council building and lobby councillors tomorrow (30 October) as part of a dispute around pay and conditions.

When: 09:30, Friday 30 October

Where: Outside Havering Town Hall, Main Road, Romford RM1 3BB

Members of the press are welcome to attend and take pictures.

The workers, who are contracted to Havering Council by FCC Waste Management and work as drivers and loaders have been on strike since Monday (26 October) with this industrial action ending tomorrow (30 October).

There are serious issues with workers in Havering being underpaid. Havering, a new starter loader is paid just £12.88 an hour the equivalent role in neighbouring Redbridge is £15.72. New drivers in Havering are paid £17.24 compared to £19.89 in Redbridge. Loaders in Havering are set to be paid 17 per cent less than the new London real living wage of £15.45.

As a London borough, Havering has a high cost of living and these workers have been left struggling to afford essentials.#

Meanwhile the Unite members have raised several concerns with management since the contract was taken over by FCC in 2023 that have not been addressed including around excessive workloads, fatigue and hot weather working, vehicle safety and welfare.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "These are key workers who deserve to be paid fairly. It is nonsensical that they earn so little in comparison to their counterparts in the next borough and FCC and Havering Council have serious questions to answer over this.

"FCC must also listen to its workers' concerns over conditions. Unite will not allow our members to be left struggling to afford essentials and working under poor conditions and will continue to back these workers every step of the way."

This week’s strike has caused disruption to waste services in Havering. This is despite FCC attempting to break the strike by bringing in workers from its over UK councils including as far as East Lothian in Scotland, paying for their travel, accommodation and other expenses.

Unite regional officer Danny Hoggan said: "It is unacceptable that our members at FCC have been left struggling to make ends meet. Meanwhile instead of paying them fairly and coming to the table to resolve issues FCC would rather pay money to strike break than treat Havering workers with dignity and respect.

"Unite are more than willing to meet with FCC to negotiate an end to this dispute, but that relies on FCC changing tack and committing to immediate meaningful changes to these workers' pay and conditions."

ENDS

Notes to editors

For media enquiries ONLY please contact Unite press officer Natasha Wynarczyk on 07970081524

natasha.wynarczyk@unitetheunion.org