Sandwell bin strike scheduled for Christmas
Sandwell residents may not have their bins collected over Christmas, with refuse workers set to continue their strike through December.
Bin workers will strike for 12 days between November and January, including four consecutive days from December 20 to 23, as part of an ongoing row over safety, pay and alleged bullying from Serco bosses.
Serco is contracted to run waste collections by Sandwell Council.
Staff will also strike on November 15 and 16, November 24 and 25 and January 4 to 7.
In the latest escalation of the strike, over 100 members of the GMB union walked out in protest of work conditions and protested outside Serco's recycling centre for five days at Shidas Lane in Oldbury.
A spokesman for GMB at the strike said: "Going on strike is not an easy task, it's not a bit of fun. Our members are out here because they've had enough.
"They've had enough of being treated like rubbish by their employer - being treated with disdain, being sent out to do jobs with hazardous materials and not being given PPE.
"We will not back down from this fight. We will not back down to bullies, and neither will our members."
GMB union colleagues from Brighton travelled to join the workers in Sandwell in solidarity.
GMB's regional organiser Justine Jones said: "Our members are angry and tired, they have suffered ill treatment for years, and it’s made worse by the fact they are the lowest paid refuse service in the region.
“But after everything these workers have done for all of us over the last eighteen months, they aren’t going to be strung along by Serco’s bullying bosses in their fight to make work better.
“Again, we have asked Sandwell Council to intervene and deal with the behaviour of their statutory service operator, this is happening on their watch, and the public should know this.”
