11:34am Wednesday 16th July 2008
Street cleaners and refuse collectors have formed a picket line outside a Watford depot site, as part of the national UNISON strike action over pay.
The Watford Borough Council employees, who work at the Wiggenhall Depot in Wiggenhall Road, have described the Government's pay offer of 2.45 per cent as "a kick in the teeth".
More than 600,000 local Government workers have taken strike action, which is due to end by Friday.
UNISON’s pay claim is for a six per cent or 50p an hour increase, whichever is the greater.
Dave Clancey, 35, of the Meriden Estate, is taking part in the 48-hour strike.
He said: "I have been a street cleaner for almost ten years and have two young kids.
"Everything has gone up due to inflation and I cannot afford to live on what I am earning.
"We are striking because we want to show unity.
"I do not want to strike, but feel it is the only way they will listen to what we need.
"I cannot afford a car, and with a family to look after, my salary makes it very difficult.
"The pay increase they have offered would make little difference, only about £400 a year.
"The pay increase we are asking for, even four per cent, would make things a lot easier for us."
Trevor Parry, 44, of Watford, has been a street cleaner for more than two years.
He said: "It is wrong, for the past three or four years we have not had any increase in our pay.
"In real terms we have had a pay cut.
"What they have offered is like a kick in the teeth, we hope that this strike action will mean they negotiate a higher pay rise for us."
Some of the workers said they are also angry with the amount school dinner staff and other local Government workers receive.
They say they are striking on their behalf too, and many others would have joined the picket line if they could have afforded to lose the two days pay.
Clive Brown, who has been a refuse loader for six years, said: "We hope to achieve a decent pay rise, which we have not had for ten years.
"It would make our lives more manageable, especially with the rise in the cost of living.
"We did not want to strike, but feel we have been pushed into a corner and forced into action.
"I have ten-year-old twins and a 13-year-old and need the pay increase to survive."
Have you been affected by the strike? Has your rubbish been collected? Is your child's school closed?
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