A short while ago, we put up this post about workers in the following sections of Thurrock Council – Refuse and Recycling Service, Clean and Green Service and Highways Service – being balloted on strike action in a dispute over cuts to pay and the imposition of worse conditions of employment: Thurrock bin workers – strike ballot well underway – March 9, 2021. Well, as you may be able to see from the image above, the ballot has taken place and a majority have voted in favour of industrial action. This is the confirmation letter from Civica Election Services that they’re satisfied with the way the ballot was conducted.

If you’re having trouble viewing the image of the letter from Civica Election Services, here are the relevant facts:

Number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot: 132

Number of votes cast in the ballot: 97

Votes cast in the ballot as a % of individuals who were entitled to vote: 73.5%

Number of spoilt or otherwise invalid voting papers returned: 0

Result of voting

Yes | 88 | 90.7%

No | 9 | 9.3%

For more information and updates about this and other disputes, we recommend that you go to the Facebook page for Justice For Refuse Workers & Cleansers.

For some background on what is fuelling this dispute and how refuse workers feel about the way they’re being treated by Thurrock Council, there’s this post we put up earlier on this year: Just so you know what a refuse worker has to go through… – January 11, 2021.

Bear in mind that as well as this, another dispute with frontline workers at the council is brewing up: Thurrock Council shooting themselves in the foot – March 13, 2021.

Needless to say that if the refuse and environmental services workers do take industrial action, they will have our 100% backing as they take on Thurrock Council. If you want to join us in showing solidarity with the workers, we have an A4 poster you can download, print off and put up.

You can download a PDF of this poster from here