Strike action in South Gloucestershire
Agreement reached
Update 02 August 2023
A spokesperson for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK said: “After continued negotiations with Unite the Union over, a 10.1% pay increase for 2023 has been agreed by its members following a ballot.
“We are pleased that we have been able to agree a solution with the Union and that further industrial action has been cancelled. We are extremely grateful to our employees for their important work and would like to thank the residents of South Gloucestershire for their patience during this time”.
Unite members ballot on new pay offer while collections resume
Update 28 July 2023
A spokesperson for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK said “We are pleased to confirm that we have come to a mutual agreement with Unite representatives. In ongoing negotiations with Unite, we increased our offer to 10.1% which will now be balloted by their members. While this vote is taking place, the industrial action will be suspended and our teams will return to work.
"Garden waste and recycling collections will restart, however we do anticipate these will be very heavy the first few weeks, and Little Stoke Sort-It Centre will reopen. As a result, the temporary bring sites will be closed from the afternoon of Friday 28 July and will be removed during week commencing 31 July 2023.
"We hope that this ballot will be successful and we can spend the next few weeks getting the service back on track. We are extremely grateful to our employees for their important role in this service and we’d like to thank residents for their patience over the last few weeks."
Ongoing negotiations
Update 17 July 2023
In recent pay negotiations our offer was revised to 9% for 2023, however, this was rejected by unite.
We are continuing discussions with the union over the coming weeks and hope to progress negotiations with the aim of coming to a positive solution.
Announced strike action in South Gloucestershire
Update 17 July 2023
A spokesperson for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK said: "We originally offered our teams working on our South Gloucestershire Council contract an 8% pay increase for 2023 which, when combined with the similar pay increase agreed in 2022, delivers pay increases of 15 – 16.75% over 2 years. In recent pay negotiations our offer was revised to 9% for 2023, however, this was rejected by Unite. We are continuing discussions with the union over the coming weeks and hope to progress negotiations with the aim of coming to a positive solution.
"Industrial action is the very last outcome we wanted to see and our goal is to reach an agreement that would bring this to an end. Our door is still open and we welcome further discussions with Unite.
"With just over 40% of our people in South Gloucestershire continuing to work, we are able to provide a limited collection service that prioritises collecting black bin waste and opening the larger Sort It centres. We’re also developing arrangements for recycling to cover the union’s proposed strike over the summer, such as some Sort It centres opening earlier with dedicated space for food waste and extra recycling and temporary deposit points. Unfortunately these won’t be as convenient as our normal weekly household collection service but they will allow householders to continue to recycle.
"We’d like to apologise to our residents in South Gloucestershire for the disruption from the strike action and thank them for their patience."
Contingency arrangements
Update 14 July 2023
We are aware of residents’ concerns around recycling and food waste not currently being collected and have made special arrangements for extra deposit points at a number of locations across the district in addition to the Sort It centres in Yate, Mangotsfield and Thornbury.
Household recycling (cardboard, paper, glass, cans and plastic) and food waste can be taken to four additional locations around South Gloucestershire every weekday between 8am and 2pm. These locations are:
- Stoke Gifford Park and Ride (Parkway station) – Hunts Ground Road, BS34 8XX
- Lyde Green Park and Ride – Willowherb Road, BS16 7GG
- Page Road short stay car park Staple Hill – page Road, BS16 4NE
- SGC North Way site, Filton, BS34 7QG
- Yate Park and Ride, Badminton Road, Yate, BS37 5YS
- Cleve RFC Car Park, The Hayfields, Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, BS16 9EN
Recycling (cardboard, paper, glass, cans and plastic) can also be deposited in recycling skips (bring banks) 24/7 at:
- Warmley community centre car park, 20 Deanery Road, Bristol BS15 9JB
- The Batch community centre car park, 8a Park Road, Barrs Court, Warmley, Bristol, BS30 8EB
We have added facilities at our Sort It centres in Yate, Thornbury and Mangotsfield where you can take your food waste. You can also dispose of recycling and garden waste there.