Unite has warned that it will leave “no stone unturned” after accusing waste management company SUEZ of attempting to “undermine” forthcoming refuse worker strike action in Doncaster. SUEZ, however, has refuted claims.
Unite says it has received “evidence” that SUEZ is “actively recruiting” agency workers to try to “break” the strike. The recruitment of agency workers to break or undermine strike action is illegal and is a criminal offence, it says.
An advert circulated by Aim Recruit Ltd (see below), which already supplies agency workers to SUEZ, states: “This work is to cover industrial action and the workers will need to cross a picket line”. Other agencies identified to be recruiting for refuse workers on the contract include Logical Personal Solutions and Ideal Recruit, Unite claims.
Following internal investigations by SUEZ, however, the company says it had no involvement in the advert or its placement.
“SUEZ respects the right of Unite members to engage in legal industrial action and we are fully aware of our obligations and limitations as an employer in these situations”
“Although SUEZ was not directly named in the advert, it clearly creates the misleading and erroneous impression that it was placed on SUEZ’s behalf,” a spokesperson for the waste management company said.
“When SUEZ challenged Aim Recruit Ltd about the origin of the advertisement, they would not confirm who commissioned it and it was quickly withdrawn from publication. We are therefore at a loss to explain who instigated the advert, or why, but we will be investigating further and will take a robust approach to dealing with this issue.
“SUEZ respects the right of Unite members to engage in legal industrial action and we are fully aware of our obligations and limitations as an employer in these situations. For the record, however, SUEZ may make use of agency workers to assist in the catch-up following any strike action, which is in accordance with the relevant legislation, but we will not employ any additional agency staff to conduct work during stoppages should they occur.”
“Legal Action”
Unite says it is now writing to the government’s Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, which is responsible for ensuring that the rules on agency workers are upheld, warning that SUEZ and the agencies concerned are prepared to “act illegally”.
Unite will also write directly to SUEZ and the agencies warning them that they will be “engaging in illegal activity”. The union will also consider what other legal action it can take in support of its members.
“Unite will leave no stone unturned be it legal, political or industrial in ensuring that SUEZ is not allowed to break the law”.
Unite regional officer, Shane Sweeting, said: “SUEZ’s actions are disgraceful and the company will be acting illegally if it recruits agency labour to undermine a strike. It is simply incredible that SUEZ is more interested in recruiting agency workers to try to undermine the dispute rather than entering into negotiations with Unite.
“Unite will leave no stone unturned be it legal, political or industrial in ensuring that SUEZ is not allowed to break the law”.
Strike Action
The first strike is scheduled to begin on Wednesday 23 August until Sunday 27 August. A further period of strike action will then occur from Saturday 2 September finishing on Wednesday 6 September.
The initial dispute concerns pay. SUEZ has offered workers a 2% increase but this is conditional on the removal of guaranteed overtime, which will in reality mean that workers will have their pay frozen.
The dispute has further deepened as the company has also announced that it is looking to effectively halve the 250 strong workforce by October and is “intent on making over 100 workers redundant”, Unite says. Unite is currently preparing to launch a separate industrial action ballot over the job cuts.
According to the union, as a result of the job cuts, the company is proposing to reduce refuse collections from a five day a week service to four days. The current medical waste removal service will be cancelled, it says; the green waste collection will change from a year round service to operating only for nine months and the company will no longer undertake the licensed removal of asbestos.
Unite met with the Doncaster mayor’s office this week to seek the council’s support in resolving the dispute. The union is seeking, as a minimum, the council’s support to ensure that if there are job losses there will be no compulsory redundancies. The council’s deputy mayor Cllr Glyn Jones has promised to raise the issue of the recruitment of agency workers to undermine the strike with SUEZ.