Week-long strike at waste recycling plants in Nottinghamshire including Mansfield and Kirkby is now underway

Mansfield’s Materials Recycling Facility, Ashfield’s Welsh Croft Close site and Bassetlaw’s Claylands Avenue site will all be impacted by strike action which started yesterday (Monday, September 25).

These plants process household waste and recycling for more than 250,000 homes in north Nottinghamshire.

GMB and local residents have also raised alarm at the prospect of Veolia using temporary agency staff to cover the impact of the dispute.

Mick Coppin, GMB organiser, said: “Our members are on strike for a pay packet that covers the bills; it’s that simple.

“They’re minimum wage workers being treated with disdain by Veolia.

“It’s time for Veolia to commit to listening to our members and getting this settled once and for all.”

A Veolia spokesman said: “Veolia and the GMB Union negotiated and agreed to a two-year pay deal for employees in Nottinghamshire in 2022 which recognised the hard work of our teams.

“We have offered to engage in early pay discussions for 2024.

“Veolia has honoured the agreement both the company and the GMB entered into and it is therefore disappointing the GMB Union has sought to take industrial action at this time.

“We take the safety and comfort of our employees very seriously and the work undertaken is done to industry practice.

“Veolia will seek to minimise any disruption the industrial action may cause.”

A Nottinghamshire county councillor says he is ‘confident’ contingency plans which are in place will limit disruption to households caused by the strike action.

A place select committee meeting heard contingency plans may include diverting bin lorries to alternative waste processing centres across the county.

This includes waste transfer centres in Colwick, Giltbrook and Newark, but depends on workers at those centres not crossing the picket line and joining the strike.

These centres – alongside the Kirkby and Worksop sites affected by the strike – are transfer stations where waste is handled following district and borough council collections.

The Mansfield materials recovery facility – also affected by the strike – is where recyclable materials are sorted into different types.