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.

“Our members are rightly angry at such game-playing and having exhausted all negotiations are taking to the picket line to state their case. Unite will be backing them 100 per cent of the way.”

A Veolia spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that Unite the Union have not respected the Trade Union Congress Code of Conduct and request that they engage with the TUC to resolve this inter union dispute as a matter of urgency."