SHEFFIELD bin collectors will strike for five days after contractor Veolia refused to recognise a union representing 80 per cent of their depot’s workforce for collective bargaining, Unite announced today.

Nearly 100 refuse workers from the Lumley Street site will bring collections to a standstill as they walk out from July 29 to August 2 after Veolia claimed another union is already recognised as the sole trade union.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is absurd that a union representing 80 per cent of a workforce is blocked from making collective bargaining arrangements by an employer, especially one it has national agreements with up and down the country.