Coventry bin strike: Union demonstrates outside council
BBCUnion members representing bin workers gathered outside a council after two months of strike action was announced.
The action could see bins in Coventry going uncollected until April and residents in the city have reacted angrily to the impact on collections.
Seventy drivers are seeking improved wages. However, each side disputes what the average salary is.
Unite the Union says its members deserve "fair pay" while Coventry City Council argues the salaries are "good".
The council claims the average salary of its bin lorry drivers is about £30,000. However, Unite argues these figures are "skewed" and the real figure is closer to £25,000.
Andrew Walster, the director of the council's Streetscene and regulatory services, conceded the £30,000 figure did "depend how you measure it" and included casual overtime payments.
It had previously reported the average salary to be more than £34,000 with pay ranging up to £52,000.
Unite said the council's "reliance on inaccuracies and misinformation about pay rates" had "greatly increased tensions".
The union's regional director Simon O'Keefe said workers "should get fair pay for a fair day's work for the skills and knowledge that they have", referring to each driver holding an HGV licence.
However, Mr Walster said Coventry was one of the highest-paying local authorities in the West Midlands and insisted the drivers received "a good salary".
On Monday, talks between the council and union collapsed and Unite announced workers could be on strike for their full four-day working week by the end of this month.
It follows weeks of negotiations in which the union has rejected a number of offers tabled by the council.
Staff were offered a one-off £3,500 tax-free payment to work the Christmas and new year period and a £1,300 market supplement for drivers towards the bottom of their pay scale, backdated from April last year.
Unite said the payments were "not technically a pay rise" and its members wanted "a genuine and reasonable offer" from the council.
Talks are continuing and the council said it was considering options for rubbish collection during the strike action and would announce a plan in due course.
Residents are already seeing the impact amid ongoing strike action and reacted angrily to the escalation. Vivienne Crossland said she had seen an increase in rats and accused drivers of "pure greed".
Chris Smith said there was "very little public support for this action", adding: "The complete lack of regard for taxpayers is incredible."
Mr O'Keefe said the union understood residents' frustration but said members had received "a lot of messages of support".
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