Dustcart drivers in Brighton and Hove are to start a three-day strike next Thursday (16 October).
The GMB members will also be on strike on Friday 17 October and Monday 20 October.
The union issued a statement yesterday (Thursday 9 October) saying that the bin lorry drivers at council-run Cityclean were taking three more days of action in a dispute over pay and allowances.
The union said: “We call on the council to concentrate on matters at hand, prioritise this issue as a matter of urgency and look to regain the confidence of the workforce.
“There will be a further three full days of strike action for Brighton and Hove Cityclean drivers after council officials failed to resolve the current stalemate.
“The refuse and recycling drivers at Brighton and Hove Cityclean will take strike action … in the ongoing dispute over driver supervisory and responsibility allowances.
“The action will be from 00.01am until 23.59pm on each of the three days and will run in conjunction with a continuing work to rule.”
GMB branch secretary Mark Turner said: “Council officers’ reputation at being unreliable means that our members just don’t believe what any of them say any more.
“They feel that they are being ignored while the council keep talking about wrapping this issue up into the overall service redesign they are so keen to deliver early next year.
“Drivers don’t trust them to do that so simply they want to see that same commitment from council short term to resolve the current supervisory and responsibility allowances issue quickly and satisfactorily before being expected to have any confidence in their being able to deliver such an important piece of work as an overall service redesign which would possibly this time take into account the views of those who actually deliver the service.
“We call on the council to concentrate on matters at hand, prioritise this issue as a matter of urgency and look to regain the confidence of the workforce.
“If they don’t drivers are going to become even more and more disillusioned with what appears to be management’s inability or lack of determination to actually want this matter resolved and as a result can’t and won’t rule out even further escalation of dispute action.
“We are though asking that the majority of residents and businesses of this city who have been fully supportive of this ongoing current dispute which drivers have with the council continue to do so please and that both the GMB and drivers do take seriously the effect that this dispute is and will continue to have upon them.
“Be assured our members wish to see this resolved sooner rather than later as they can ill afford the financial losses they are incurring from doing so and certainly don’t really want to see the streets of their own city in such a mess but they need to be listened to and listened to now.”
