Allerdale Waste Services workers tell their stories as strike goes on

On the picket line on Tuesday, some members spoke of using foodbanks to support their families on current wages amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Refuse workers employed by AWS have been on all-out strike since May 16 in a dispute over pay.

Lewis Wilson, officer for Unite said: “All we are wanting is the correct hourly rate for the job.

"Our drivers here currently work 44 hours a week which is around seven weeks a year more than what other people do in this area, so we are wanting the correct hourly rate.

Lewis Wilson, unite officer outside of Solway House were the service is ran from. (Image: NQ staff)

"We shouldn’t have to work that many more weeks to get a comparable wage.

“The support from the public has been amazing, we have got Marion's and a lot of businesses in the area have really been helpful sending food down to the lads, it’s been absolutely fantastic.

"We have had a lot of support on Facebook, it is really massive to the lads that we are getting this support from the public.

“The public understand the struggles of the real working person, not the people who are just sat in their castles looking down on everybody.”

A group of refuse workers who have now been on strike since May (Image: NQ staff)

An AWS spokesperson said that all AWS staff receive an annual salary - £27,508 for drivers and £22,165 for operatives - which is 'either comparable or exceeds the salaries of others in the same role' in the new Cumberland authority.

"AWS operate on a 'task and finish basis' with drivers and operatives working less than their full contracted hours each week,” they added.

When asked about reaching a compromise with AWS, Lewis said: “Look, we have compromised a lot already.

"We are there to negotiate, we're there to do this properly and we want to come to a resolution as soon as possible so these people can get back to doing what they do best.”

One member, who only joined the strike in recent weeks, said: “I have been a line manager for the last three and a half years, but basically, I have had my eyes opened and have seen how AWS undervalue their staff on a lot of occasions to be honest.

The workers on the picket line outside of Solway House, Workington (Image: NQ staff)

“My granddaughter has got cancer and a few weeks ago I asked for a day or two off because she was coming up here and I hadn’t seen her in six months.

"I asked if I could have a couple of days off but I was told no because everyone was on strike, they said you know the situation."

He said the episode 'broke the camel's back' and prompted him to join the picket.

A spokesman for AWS said in response: “With any service there is a maximum annual leave cap and annual leave would always be granted if operationally possible to do so and if it is not possible, they would look to work with the employee to come to a suitable alternative.

“Annual leave has and continues to be authorised throughout the strike action.”

Another member on the picket line said: “The pay is ridiculous, the hourly rate at the minute is unmanageable for the households, we have got lads literally eating out of foodbanks.

“You can’t survive on the £10.89, the national living wage, and the 10.1 per cent they said looks good on paper, but as an hourly rate 10.1 per cent of nothing is nothing.

"They (management) gave themselves a 6 per cent pay rise - that money could have been better spent on the staff, to show us some value."

One picketer said: “10.1 per cent of very little is very little, and from what I have seen they have got a lot of good lads, some really good staff and they have been doing this 20 years-plus.

"They know if an old lady had an old bin round here somewhere, they know if a farm's down a lonnin a mile away they have to go to."

He said this local knowledge was why bins are being missed amid the strike action.

An AWS spokesman said: “All AWS employees received a 10.1 per cent pay rise with the exception of the three directors who received a 6 per cent pay rise.”

The company added it 'is and continues to be' extremely proud of its workforce and the knowledge they have built up over the years.

Today (Thursday), Unite the Union have organised a protest outside of Cumberland Council offices at the former Allerdale House from 9am.

Unite will hold a demonstration today amid the strike (Image: NQ staff)

The demonstration coincides with the date when AWS can no longer legally use agency workers - a change which has the potential to heighten the effects of the strike.

However, AWS said it has continued to try and manage public disruption within the strikes by employing workers on temporary contracts with the service.

Unite say the decision to move to employing additional refuse workers directly was revealed to the workers shortly prior to 'peace talks' with the conciliation service ACAS on August 3.

They said the council’s decision resulted in those talks failing to make a hoped for breakthrough in the dispute. Unite regional officer Ryan Armstrong said: “The council’s latest shenanigans will simply redouble the workers’ determination to secure a fair pay rise.”

An AWS spokesperson said: “We are incredibly disappointed to see that Unite are proposing to hold a demonstration the day after a scheduled meeting with ACAS, ourselves, and Cumberland Council officers.

“By doing this, it would appear that Unite are pre-empting the outcome of the reconciliation meeting, prolonging the strike and have no intentions of coming to any agreement to bring the industrial action to a close.

“Despite the proposed demonstration, we still remain hopeful that the parties can reach a resolution and that our employees can get back to work as soon as possible.”