'Completely unjustified' - South Tyneside Council slam unions over latest bin strike action

South Tyneside Council have branded the latest round of bin strike action ‘completely unjustified’.

The council confirmed on Friday that workers would again be on strike next week, leaving thousands of householders across the borough facing up to yet more disruption.

The strike is said to be over a bullying culture in the workplace, something the council denies, following an independent investigation.

Speaking in relation to the latest announcement, Jonathan Tew, Chief Executive of South Tyneside Council said: “I know that this will be another blow for the people of South Tyneside.

“It is completely unreasonable not to at least provide the service with a period of normality and stability so that the jointly developed action plan can be implemented, before proposing any further action short of strike, or future strike dates.

“We continue to do everything within our power to avoid strike action, but without any communication from GMB as to their reasons for taking further industrial action, it is proving impossible to resolve this dispute through the usual channels.

“We have worked tirelessly to engage with and listen to the concerns of the workforce.

“I’m sorry that our residents and businesses have had to endure this ongoing action despite all efforts being made by the Council to bring it to an end.”

The next planned strike action, according to the council, is dated from May 1 to 14.

FULL STORY: South Tyneside set for more bin strikes - and it could last another SIX months

Stuart Wright, Director of Place and Communities at South Tyneside Council said: “To be clear we have thoroughly investigated the concerns raised, internally and independently following HR processes, and there are no grounds for a change in operational management. The strike is completely unjustified.

“We have been understanding throughout the first six months of Industrial Action trying to seek common ground to end this dispute for the people of South Tyneside who have shown remarkable patience.

“Three weeks ago, Trade Union representatives gave us assurances that there would be no further strike action, so that we could deliver the action plan, support the workforce, and get back to delivering an effective and efficient bin collection service.

“We understand how frustrating and challenging the situation is for all our residents and thank everyone for their patience and understanding. We continue to work extremely hard to mitigate the impact of the strikes as much as we can.”

In response, the GMB union issued the following statement: “As we were unable to resolve the ongoing dispute with South Tyneside Council over the last 6 months, the GMB are legally obliged to re-ballot our members, to continue to make the dispute lawful. We have recently done that and our members have voted 96% in favour of further strike action, which we notified the Council almost 2 weeks ago.

“Whilst we acknowledge the joint working that has been taking place to address the many areas of mismanagement in the service, we were unable to resolve the main area of the dispute relating to the allegations of bullying and the culture that exists in the service.

“There was absolutely no agreement with the unions from our meeting on 4 April to halt any further industrial action, this position was clearly communicated to the Chief Executive on 5 April, so we fundamentally disagree with the Councils statement on this matter.

“We are disappointed to have to take further action and will always explore avenues of resolution to bring this dispute to an end, but our members have to be certain that they will not be subject to any more bullying at work, and we will continue to negotiate with management until we can get to that position.”