- Tower Hamlets garbage strike continues.
- Union members reject pay offer.
- Trash piles up in Tower Hamlets.
The capital, Tower Hamlets, has tens of thousands of trash sacks, some six feet high, from staff who refused their last offer.
As the second week of a strike by refuse workers continues in East London, garbage piles up on the streets.
Tens of thousands of trash bags, some heaped six feet high, have accumulated in Tower Hamlets as 200 members of the Unite union walked out on Monday, September 18, in a dispute over pay and conditions.
Locals in Tower Hamlets have reported seeing rats swarming over garbage piles, particularly in sections of Shoreditch, according to the Evening Standard, which also reported complaints about the stench.
Because of the impasse, the Tower Hamlets strike was prolonged to October 15th from two weeks.
Tower Hamlets council members will vote on a fresh plan. If approved, work will resume on Wednesday.
Unite has stated that two hundred refuse collectors and street cleaners in Tower Hamlets have joined the strike.
According to the Metro, employees rejected a national flat-rate pay increase of £1,925 in Tower Hamlets because it is below inflation and equivalent to a “pay cut in real terms,” as per the union.
Paul Scully, the Minister for London, told the Evening Standard that “visitors and locals alike will be appalled and repulsed by the sight of garbage accumulating on the streets in Tower Hamlets.”
He emphasized that “Councils and unions in Tower Hamlets must remain in the same room until an agreement is reached,” as this situation is unfair to council tax payers and local businesses, whose customers may start going elsewhere.
On Twitter, formerly known as Twitter, numerous users have expressed dismay at the situation in Tower Hamlets.
Metro quoted a Tower Hamlets resident as stating, “Cycled today. Brick Lane and environs in Tower Hamlets are a very genuine health hazard. The stench is overpowering, and the sidewalks are frequently impassable due to the enormous piles of rotting garbage and fly-tipped trash.”
After hiring a private company to gather debris, Tower Hamlets’ worst-affected districts are being cleaned up.
