The Isle of Wight faces a bin strike as workers employed by Amey are balloted for industrial action, amid claims workers are being offered the same rates as trainees receive on the mainland.
When Amey workers received a below inflationary pay rise, they raised their concerns with management over how little this raised their pay. Some workers were told if they wanted better pay, they should travel to the mainland.
Workers were further incensed when they discovered the pay increase offered only took their pay up to the rates advertised for ‘trainees’ on the mainland.
The strike ballot opens on 13th May and closes on 27th May.
Adrian Baker, GMB Regional Organiser, said:
“Our members on the island are subject to the same inflation, interest rate rises, national insurance levels and all other increases employees across the country are subject to.
“It is hardly a surprise that Isle of Wight residents are second from bottom in the South of England when it comes to average pay earnings when an employer directly linked to the council thinks it can get away with this.
“GMB members want Amey to simply do the right thing and offer a pay rise which reflects the cost of living our members face. However, we also want the council to take some responsibility for this.
Article continues below this advertisement “It’s an embarrassing situation as the company are in partnership with Isle of Wight Council on this contract which asks the question – do the council leadership endorse national employers coming to the island and paying trainee rates to Isle of Wight residents?
“Amey has been told about the ballot and the council is aware of GMB members requests on pay.
“The message in all of this is very simple; island employees should not be forced by any employer into a choice of either accepting low rates of pay or told to get on a boat to provide for their families.
“This dispute will not simply go away with hollow promises from Amey. GMB is ready and waiting to engage meaningfully with the employer on pay rates and await their request to do so.”
The same can be said for a well known aircraft company on the island. ridiculous pay rise and got stiffed on bonus again. well unless your a manager that is!
It looks like it is the same everywhere on the island. Normal workers being “punished”, with top managers blaming Covid, Brexit or the war, or whatever they can think of at the time, or they give you a pay rise and cut your hours, nasty trick and shows a total lack of respect for the “normal” workers who bring in the profits to keep the ones at the top happy and in there nice bonuses.
Absolutely disgusting !!
if the refuse workers do the same job then they should be paid the same as those on the mainland ,once again Island pay is made less than on the mainland …..and our bin guys and gals do a brilliant job
Our bin guys and gals do a great job they should all be paid the same as on the mainland
Completely agree, they do a fab job, never see any rubbish left in our road and they’re friendly too, come on Amey get yourselves sorted out! Have to say though, this is what happens when British companies are sold out to the Euro bods!
Amey’s main task is to make a profit from its UK operations so that it can send those profits to its parent company Ferrovial in Spain, meaning Ferrovial can subsidise its contracts there.
Amey are also fully aware that no binman could afford to live on the IOW and travel to work on the mainland daily on the wages they would be paid there.
Totally agree …
It’s the same for retail staff care staff etc …. in fact an awful lot of island worker’s ( except the big Council fat cats ( meow )
And yet we still face the same increase in our utility bills and shopping and of course the Bane of our lives The Council Tax…..
One rule for one and rule for the rest !!!!!!.
What happened to levelling up ?????
It’s a race to the bottom. Leveling down.
I think £18000-£21000 plus pension is not a bad wage for a dustman. Especially when they spend
most of the time blocking roads unnecessarily and discarding litter over the streets as they are leaving.
Your deluded
W ⚓️
What utter rubbish. You are so clearly in a minority of one, just look at the other comments
I do not understand why i am in a minority am i missing something?
Yes. The point.
Maybe you’d prefer to dispose of your own waste then?
A cut to our council tax then?…perhaps not, doesn’t matter if our streets are full of rubbish and rats.
Just like County Hall then!
If the bin men do strike it will affect me as well as everyone on the island but I will back them whatever, no one should be treated as second class , they do a magnificent job.
Hard working people, great service. Imagine this pay issue is common on the island. Only exception would be public sector?
No island workers should be paid less than the mainland workers our council taxes are higher per band than a lot of places our supermarket prices are the same or higher than the mainland … There’s absolutely no grounds to pay islanders on a different scale ….
Importing labour to the island costs a lot more than paying a fair wage to the locals….
From experience on living both sides of the Solent I can categorically conform that the cost of living on the Island is higher than that of the closest part of the mainland – if anything wages here should be higher than the mainland. But of course that will never, ever, happen.
Oh what a surprise not, so many companies do this on the island. I know of one where I previously worked where I worked for minimum wage and the rate of pay on the mainland for the same company same role was £5 an hour more, I was told like it or lump it so I left
Being a refuse collector must surely rank as one of the worst jobs available, working among the stench of other people’s rubbish, some of which sits in the bin for 2 weeks between collections. I will back them to the hilt if they DO strike.
AMEY should show some decency and integrity and give them a raise equal to mainland wages.
Most HGV jobs on the island pay less than the mainland. Im on between £2 and £3.50 per hour more by commuting to the mainland on Monday and coming back either Thursday or Friday than I would be if I worked doing exactly the same job for an Island company. I can get more hours in per week and I also get bonuses for hitting my target.
IWC need to take responsibility, they allowed Amey to take over from Island Waste knowing full well low wages. Am sure we would all agree that Refuse guys and girls are essential life savers ( would be overun by disease and rats) they worked throughout COVID in all weather’s and get abuse from car drivers etc. Why does council not bring refuse services back into Council ?. We lost Wightbus,Group90, High ways etc -. What does council do ?.
You do understand that when companies change the existing employees TUPE and their terms, salary etc is protected? So whoever managed waste before Amey paid them 27% less, as Amey have increased wages by 27% since they took over. I think others on the Island (teachers, nurses etc!) should be treated the same way Amey treats their employees.