Latest update from Wirral Council:
The Town Hall has been informed that Biffa employees voted to reject Biffa’s latest improved pay offer. Unfortunately, this means planned industrial action by Biffa staff - 28 to 30 December, 3 to 6 January 2023 and 16 to 21 January 2023 will take place.
The rejected offer was £300 per employee one-off payment, on top of the 15% pay award and 3 months back pay (to 1 July 2022).
With the industrial action and the current overtime ban in place, this will affect all services provided by Biffa under their contract with Wirral Council and will mean there will be no household bin collections, bulk bin collection, bulky waste collections, street cleaning, emptying of public litter bins or removal of fly tipping between Saturday 24 December and Saturday 7 January.
Biffa crews have been working today (Friday 23 December), but after 5pm there will be no collections at all until 9 January.
From Monday 9 January, Biffa will be focusing on collecting green bins further details of this will be communicated to residents from Tuesday 3 January. When collections restart on 9 January 2023 those missed collections from the past two weeks (12-23 December) will be prioritised first.
Council officers are now working with Biffa management on contingency plans for bin collections in January and continue to liaise with Biffa management and urge all sides to do as much as they can to resolve their disputes at the earliest opportunity to reduce the impact on residents.
VEOLIA INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Veolia Unite members have voted today (23 December) to reject the latest Veolia offer and are taking industrial action from Wednesday 28 December2022 to Saturday 7 January 2023 and Sunday 15 to Saturday 21 January 2023. However, Merseyside Waste and Recycling Authority have advised that the Household Waste Recycling Centres would be closed from 27 December as Veolia cannot be safely managed operations on this date.
This industrial action will affect the availability of the transfer stations and materials recovery facilities where recycling and non-recycled waste is taken for sorting.
All 16 Household Waste Recycling Centres in the Liverpool City Region will be closed during these periods, this includes three sites in Wirral, Bidston, Clatterbridge and West Kirby.
SITUATIONAL UPDATE
We are aware that there are approximately three days of green bin collections still outstanding. When collections restart on 9 January 2023 these missed collections will be prioritised first.