Running time: 5mins 9 secs
Refuse workers in Bexley are the worst paid refuse workers in London, with a number of them not even earning the London living wage.
Serco, who Bexley council outsourced the service to, have destroyed morale over the years with different workers paid different rates for the same job, thousands owed in backpay, awful health and safety and lack of proper training leading to serious accidents (recently one worker had his hand crushed and another had his foot run over), and a bullying management.
Now the workers have had enough and are completing their third week of strike action, with more to come. While the rubbish piles up, the council seem to be more preoccupied with spreading blatant lies about the dispute and blaming everyone except themselves.
Refuse workers in neighbouring Greenwich get £13 an hour plus many enhanced terms and conditions – Bexley refuse workers deserve exactly the same deal. But ultimately, this dispute shows the madness of outsourcing public services for profit. Bexley council: bring the service back in house – for the benefit of both the workers and residents.
