74,000 bin collections missed due to strike action in Sandwell Council area
A total of 74,069 households had their refuse collection missed due to one day of industrial action in Sandwell, the Express & Star can reveal.
The GMB have already held five strike days and plan another 12 in the coming months, which could cause chaos over the Christmas period.
A Freedom of Information request to Sandwell Council laid bare the number of taxpayers affected by the long-running dispute between the GMB union and Serco, the company which the authority pays to pick up rubbish.
And Sandwell Council confirmed there will be no council tax refunds for residents who miss out on rubbish collection.
Sandwell Council confirmed one day of strike action created 74,069 missed collections in the ten days between August 31 and September 9 and another 74,069 late collections during the same time.
The backlog of the household refuse collections has also had a detrimental effect on street and highway cleaning as Serco scrambles to reassign employees.
Answering the question: "Could you please advise on the impact of other services this Industrial Action has created like Street Cleansing, Highways Cleansing?" Sandwell Council replied: "Serco utilised a number of Street Cleaning operatives to support waste collection on the day of the industrial action."
As Serco is a private company the council could not reveal the amount of overtime payments given to workers to help clear up the backlog.
A spokesman for the under-fire company said: "We have been working very hard to ensure missed collections are collected as soon as possible."
Residents face more misery as the union promises to ramp up its industrial action ahead of Christmas. Citing a litany of health and safety complaints about Serco and Oldbury Shidas Lane depot, the GMB announced 12 days of Christmas hell for Serco bosses.
Refuse workers will be striking on November 15, 16, 24 and 25, December 20, 21, 22 and 23 and January 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Justine Jones, GMB Organiser said: “We must act before somebody gets seriously hurt, or worse, on that death-trap site. Serco need to realise people come before profit – both the public and their own workers."
She added: “Clean up your sites and let us go back to serving the people of Sandwell this Christmas."
The council was asked the FOI question: "Do Sandwell Borough Council refund council tenants of council tax if the obligation isn’t met to remove Household waste, garden waste, recycling, and food waste?"
And replied: "There is no refund for council tax."
Katy Bassett, regional director for Serco Environmental Services said, “We carry out regular Health and Safety site inspections, the most recent of which was undertaken on October 13. We also hold regular joint Health and Safety meetings with the local Unison, Unite and GMB representatives.
“Concerns with overflowing toilets were raised and these were repaired the week before last. The other issues mentioned have not been raised but will seek full details so we can investigate and if necessary, arrange remedial action.
“We have received notification of these additional strike dates from the GMB and will urge them to reconsider further action whilst conciliation meetings with ACAS are ongoing.”
