Bin strike update – Monday 10 July, 10.30am

First thing this morning (Monday 10 July), members of the GMB union working for our waste contractor Canenco rejected its latest pay offer of £1,925 to every worker, backdated to 1 April with the drivers’ £2,000 retention bonus being consolidated into their salaries.

This represents an increase of 14.9% and a salary of £30,324 for drivers and 8.9% for loaders and a salary of £23,616.

To pay for this offer, Canenco has been forced to use the money it had put to one side to pay for increasing fuel and energy costs. Those costs will be underwritten by Canterbury City Council.

No more money will be found without reducing the service Canenco delivers and that would need to be subject to public consultation which would take a number of months to carry out.

On top of that, Cabinet members have made it very clear there is no appetite to cut back other vital frontline council services that people rely on in order to pay for more increases in pay at Canenco.

We do have a number of crews out making collections and are aiming to complete a full refuse (black bin) Monday service.

If your black bin or purple sacks collection is due today, please put your bin out as normal.

If it is not collected after 24 hours, please take it back in and wait for your next scheduled collection.

We’re very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Residents who have missed out on household waste and recycling collections so far will be able to put out ‘side waste’ – ie, recycling in a suitable container (not in bin bags) and general rubbish in black bags – at their next collection on Wednesday 19 July, Thursday 20 July and Friday 21 July and Monday 24 July.

This is a one-off arrangement only and we cannot accept side waste for garden collections.

Your support in helping with this will be really appreciated.

If it is refuse week, firstly, please try and squash the rubbish down in your bin as far as you can to get as much in there as possible.

If you then need to put side waste out, please double black bag it, make sure it is not too heavy for crews to pick up, and try to put it out in the morning rather than overnight if you can, to prevent foxes and gulls getting to it.

If it is recycling week, please try and bundle up paper and card rather than keep it loose, and prioritise glass in your blue bin.

We are very sorry for the ongoing disruption to waste collections and work continues to try and resolve these issues so that collections can resume.

It is a fluid situation and further strike action may continue in the days ahead. We will continue to provide updates.

If you are able to access Kent County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres and can take your waste there, information about booking a slot is on KCC’s website at www.kent.gov.uk/environment-waste-and-planning/rubbish-and-recycling/household-waste-recycling-centres/visiting-a-hwrc

Published: 10 July 2023