Doncaster binmen walk out over pay parity row

Refuse collectors, unhappy at being paid £1 an hour less than what contractor SITA pays colleagues in Kirklees, are taking six days of strike action and were on the picket lines for the first time yesterday morning.

Industrial action is scheduled for Mondays and Fridays until Monday, October 8.

Chris Weldon, regional officer for the Unite trade union, said: “We don’t want to cause disruption for the public but our members feel they are no different from refuse collectors in Kirklees.

“Our colleagues there are getting £1 an hour more than they are in Doncaster for the same job.”

Bosses at SITA, meanwhile, say the 13 per cent pay demand is too much.

SITA UK’s general manager, Nick Browning, said: “The union has asked for an average pay increase of 13 per cent, but in the current economic climate, we cannot justify increasing the offer of 1.7 per cent that we have made nationally to all of our employees, particularly when our colleagues in Doncaster already benefit from good terms and conditions following pay increases of 2.5 per cent in 2010 and 3 per cent in 2011.”

During the strikes, residents are being asked to put their black bins out on their usual collection day.