GMB Members have voted by an overwhelming majority to take part in a series of strikes that are set to bring refuse collection and street cleaning in Brighton to a standstill.

In an official ballot, staff employed in Brighton Council’s Cityclean department voted by a 94% majority to take part in an all-out strike.

The first week of action will be from the November 9-15 inclusive and further dates of action are set to be announced next week. In the interim the GMB will be instructing its members to ‘work to rule’ from November 5 onwards.

The action is taking place as a result of the Tory run council’s attempts to cut the pay of GMB members by up to £8000 each.

Mark Turner, GMB Branch Secretary, said:
"I’ve never seen such a solid group of workers and this shows that they will do whatever it takes to protect themselves from Conservative pay cuts.

"The GMB has had meetings with the opposition Labour and Green parties who support the workers; however Mary Mears, the leader of the Conservative administration which is trying to implement the cuts has hit the bunker and is not responding to e-mails or requests for a meeting.

"We are calling for the residents of Brighton & Hove to let Mary Mears know that she cannot stay in hiding and needs to bring a decent offer to the negotiating table or she will face the wrath of voters when the streets turn to chaos."

Rob Macey, GMB Organiser, said:
"We don’t take this type of action lightly and we are conscious of the inconvenience it will bring to the residents of the city. We are also however confident that the public will support our members when they consider how they would react if they themselves were faced with pay cuts of up to £8000 each through no fault of their own."

Charles Harrity, GMB Organiser, said:
"Our members know that the public is on their side in this bitter dispute and we will be establishing a strike fund for any member of the public who wishes to make a donation to the workers."

Simon Burgess, Labours candidate for Brighton Kemptown, has condemned the Council for trying to cut low paid workers wages. He led the City Council for Labour in 2006-7.

"I will not support cuts of up to £8000 a year to refuse workers pay, and I am sure the overwhelming majority of people in this city feel as disgusted as I do”

He continued:
“The council leader needs to get her hands dirty and sort this out in a way that is fair to the low paid - we should not be on the verge of seeing industrial action, this should have been sorted weeks ago”.

A spokesperson for the Council said:
“This issue is about the council’s legal and moral duty to pay employees fairly without passing on unnecessary costs to the council taxpayer.
 
“We have had productive talks with the unions up to this point about how to fulfil this duty and we are disappointed the GMB has taken its members out on strike while the council is prepared to continue negotiations.
 
“There will, undoubtedly, be some disruption to rubbish collections over the days of the strike if it goes ahead and the week that follows but we will do our utmost to minimise any delays in collections.
 
“We’d ask residents’ patience during this period and we remain hopeful we can resume talks with the GMB.”