South Tyneside bin strikes officially end after nine months of disruption

South Tyneside Council has confirmed on Friday, July 19, that the GMB union has stood down all mandates for industrial action in its Waste Department - bringing the nine-month long dispute to an end.

The union had stood down strike action earlier this month; however, there was still two outstanding ‘dispute’ ballots in place, which would have ran until October and December 2024.

The local authority has stated that the GMB has confirmed in writing that its members have voted to end the disputes and both mandates are being withdrawn.

South Tyneside Council has stated that an action plan, agreed by all parties in April, is being implemented to make improvements to service delivery on key areas such as rebalancing the collection routes, improving PPE, increased engagement and improved communication.

Cllr Tracey Dixon, Leader of South Tyneside Council, has thanked residents in the borough for their patience throughout the industrial dispute.

She said: “I know that many residents will be tired of months of communication, service changes and disruption.

“I want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding whilst these important matters were worked through.

“I can now say with confidence that we have reached a resolution and there will be no further strike action. We are united in our efforts to improve waste services and get collections back to normal.

“We are already seeing improvements, and I know our residents will be too.

“We have never stepped away from dialogue and have done everything we can to end this dispute permanently.

“Whilst this has been a lengthy and protracted process, it was important that matters raised by the workforce were properly considered.

“We have gone to great lengths to listen to their concerns and address them – concerns that I heard first-hand while directly engaging with the workforce and GMB.”

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South Tyneside Council and its workforce are now working through route optimisation to catch up during the rolling service arrangements.

Both parties are aiming to move back to a normal collection pattern for both waste types by the end of the summer.

The Council has confirmed there is no change to operational advice at this stage and residents are advised to put out both bins every day, expect Sunday, until one is collected.

This will allow catch up crews to collect bins that were not collected on the planned round.

The local authority anticipates that this will continue for the next few weeks until crews are fully caught up.

Route optimisation is something that the workforce specifically requested as part of the agreed action plan and work continues on implementation.