Photo: Canterbury City Council
Canterbury Environment Company, Canenco made a new pay offer to the striking GMB members last Thursday (10 August) which they claim fully satisfied their demands on salary and parity with other councils. However, the GMB members rejected the offer this morning (Monday 14 August).
The offer was to pay £15 an hour for drivers and £12 an hour for loaders from January 2024, funded by changes to Canenco’s working operations.
The GMB said in their publicity last week: “We urge Canenco and the council to focus energy on delivering an offer which our members can accept, meaning they will be back to work the following day.”
However, GMB members refused to accept the offer on the table at a meeting at the depot early this morning.
As a result, the strike action is likely to continue for several more weeks.
Council Leader Cllr Alan Baldock said: “This was it – the final offer. A good day’s pay for a full day’s work. But it has been rejected without any consideration.
“This is not what we wanted at all but sorting this out remains a priority for us and we will provide more information on what actions we can take in the near future.”