Doncaster refuse collection strikes called off after Suez acts on complaints

Planned strikes by refuse workers in Doncaster employed by Suez Recycling and Recovery have been suspended after the trade union said the company had acted on “bullying” concerns.

The four days of industrial action could have disrupted Christmas for residents in South Yorkshire after workers criticised the dismissal of a Unite representative from the company and complained of “systematic bullying”.

But Suez said an agreement had now been reached and an action plan put in place to address concerns.

In a joint statement, Suez and Unite said: “We are pleased to announce that agreement has been reached between Unite the Union and Suez recycling and recovery UK to suspend the proposed industrial action.

“Furthermore, we have agreed a way forward and are working through an action plan together to address the concerns raised on both sides.”

Separately, Unite said much of the bullying and harassment was connected to Suez’s CCTV system and it claimed managers had been “trawling through historic footage”.

The union said both sides had agreed that industrial action was now suspended until March to allow for a new CCTV and monitoring policy to be agreed and implemented.

Shane Sweeting, Unite regional officer, described the result as “a tremendous victory” by staff.

“Once Suez recognised the strength of feeling among members and understood the level of disruption that bin strikes would cause in Doncaster it entered into negotiations and a highly satisfactory deal has been hammered out,” he said. “While strikes have been suspended, If Suez does not honour the commitments it has made strikes could still occur this spring.”