A ROW has broken out about the upcoming HGV refuse lorry driver strike after the City Council disputed claims it had ‘issued threats’ about workers terms and conditions and had ‘refused to negotiate’.
Unite the Union said the strike, the second in as many years, was ‘inevitable’ after talks with the authority broke down on Monday.
The union announced its workers intention to strike on Friday after claiming the council planned to end ‘task and finish’ and possibly privatise the city’s refuse service.
It further claimed the plans were an attempt to drive down pay and conditions as the authority ‘fights equal pay claims by GMB members.’
Unite added rather than addressing low and unequal pay in other areas, the council was attempting to deal with GMB legal claims by bringing the conditions of refuse workers down.
The union said the upcoming action was also over pay issues.
A decision on specific dates for the strikes is set to be taken soon.
During the first half of last year, Coventry’s HGV refuse lorry drivers went on strike for six months in a dispute over pay.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the council’s ‘race to the bottom agenda’ for its workers had been laid bare.
“The Council agenda is not about genuine equality, it is instead about equalising the misery.
“It is prepared to severely attack terms and conditions so it can keep down pay and conditions for staff who are on even worse contracts.
“Unless the council climbs down from these atrocious plans, strike action is inevitable.”
A council spokesperson said: “Out of over 70 drivers, only were 42 were Unite members of which only 19 voted for strike action.
“If we do not end task and finish then we will have a yearly bill which can only lead to job cuts and cuts in services.
“We believe the way through this is by negotiation so it is bitterly disappointing that the union appears to be taking its members towards strike action once again.
“They left Monday’s meeting not willing to talk further.”
The council added if the strike does happen it would do all it could to minimise disruption and would continue to work with all unions to resolve the issues.
