Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said last night (Wednesday) that refuse collection strikes affecting other parts of the country were unlikely to spread to Watford.
Speaking at a Watford Borough Council meeting, Mayor Thornhill said a localised repeat of the recent strikes in Leeds, Edinburgh, Brighton and Sheffield, was very unlikely.
Unions warned last week that strike action could spread as councils attempt to enforce equal pay laws – a process which has seen some bin men lose up to one third of their pay.
Mayor Thornhill, however, responding to a question from Councillor Ken Broadhurst (Green), said industrial action, although not impossible, was very unlikely in Watford.
She said: “I would be a very foolish Mayor if I said ‘no, no, no,’ but what I can reassure you with is that, as I understand it, the issue in Leeds is the single status pay award, which is something we have already gone through.”
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