Around 70,000 homes across Wealden could be without refuse services if workers decide to strike over their pay.
The GMB Union says “Biffa bosses still have time to meet with us to get a deal thrashed out and avoid disruption”.
More than 40 GMB members working at Biffa’s East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership depots at the Hailsham and Uckfield regional sites are voting on whether to walk out over pay.
Workers are demanding pay rises across the service, which would see loaders on £12.50 per hour, LGV drivers on £14.50 per hour and HGV drivers on £17.50 per hour.
The ballot which closes on Friday 25 March could see strike action as early as mid-April if Biffa management continues to refuse engagement and negotiations with GMB, according to the Union,
Mark Turner, GMB Branch Secretary, said: “Work dissatisfaction and pay poverty, similar to that which recently left Biffa facing strike action from GMB members in Hastings, has caught up with them now in both the Hailsham and Uckfield depots. The ballot and any strike action should be a wake-up call for Biffa.”
He added: “Their staff (our members) want pay rises which are not just above inflation but good enough to put cash back in their pockets, so they don’t have to choose between heating and eating. Biffa bosses still have time to meet with us to get a deal thrashed out and avoid protracted disruption to Wealden residents’ refuse and recycling collections.”
A Biffa spokesperson said: “We will be entering discussions with the Trade Unions and are committed to reaching a solution as quickly as possible.”
