Inside the sheffield binmen strike from 'pulled deals' to missed collections

A long-running strike between a Sheffield waste management company and its workers is showing little sign of abating. Tens of workers represented by Unite the Union at the Veolia waste

management site on Lumley Street in Sheffield have been on strike since August 20 last year. They are striking to gain the union's recognition of the site, which Veolia is unwilling to

do. The GMB Union has been the sole recognised union at the site since 2004. It represents the majority of the workforce in Sheffield. Veolia and GMB have already signed a collective

bargaining agreement, which led the Central Arbitration Committee to reject Unite’s application for recognition last month. Veolia says this legal decision means they do not need to

recognise Unite. However, around 25 per cent of workers at the site are represented by Unite, while the union is recognised at other Veolia plants across the country. Moreover, Mark Hudson,

a leader of the strike in Sheffield, told _YorkshireLive_ that the majority of all workers at the Sheffield site - GMB, Unite or otherwise - support the recognition of Unite, challenging

Veolia’s claim that GMB would launch a counter-dispute and potentially strike. Prior to the council outsourcing the waste contract to Veolia, several unions were recognised at the site.

Veolia said just 37 people are on strike and the disruption to waste collection services in Sheffield has been “minimal". But Mr Hudson says this figure is way below the actual number,

as shown by the number of people voting in favour of the strikes. At the latest ballot, 93 per cent of Unite members voted in favour of continued strikes. He said Unite is simply asking for

a seat at the table and nothing more than the collective bargaining agreement that has been signed with GMB. Veolia claims GMB would launch a counter-dispute if Unite is recognised, which

could lead to larger strike action and significant disruption to Sheffield’s waste collection services. Mr Hudson said Veolia had offered a deal he and Unite were prepared to accept in

December last year, but just before they were going to sign, it was pulled from the table. Veolia management and Unite representatives have entered into dialogue after several months without

any discussions, and Mr Hudson said if the same deal was offered today, Unite would accept it. In 2023, Veolia made a profit of £11.7 million, while Sheffield City Council is facing

difficult decisions under financial pressures, including an £18.1 million shortfall in 2024-25. Globally, Veolia made £815 million in profits - much of it coming from public contracts like

Sheffield. It also paid out £763 million to shareholders. Mr Hudson has subsequently called for waste management to be brought back into public ownership, with the council managing the

service. Thousands of residents have also signed a Unite petition calling for Sheffield City Council to review its waste management services and contract with Veolia. A Veolia spokesperson

said: “Veolia will always respect the right of every one of its employees to be a member of a trade union of their choice, and we respect the tens of recognition agreements we have with our

five trade union partners across the UK.” They added: “From the outset, Veolia has gone to extraordinary lengths to create the conditions for dialogue between Unite and GMB. We promptly and

repeatedly approached the Trades Union Congress and other mediation bodies in the UK which, disappointingly, refused to intervene.” They said despite CAC’s rejection of Unite’s application,

the union “has continued a campaign of harassment and defamation towards Veolia, its employees and its partners”. They added: “We call on Unite to immediately end their misguided and

unnecessary campaign and respect the CAC’s decision.” _GET ALL THE LATEST AND BREAKING SHEFFIELD NEWS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX BY __SIGNING UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER HERE._