Rubbish and weeds gather in gutters as it emerges street sweepers have been on strike for months

[dutchman]

Drivers of tankers and two sweepers at the council have been taking industrial action since early this year



Council leaders have revealed strike action is hitting other council services in Coventry, with drivers for street sweeping lorries and drain cleaners the latest to take industrial action. Refuse collectors have been embroiled in a long running and high profile dispute over pay with Coventry City Council.

But it has now emerged the drivers of Coventry's street sweeping lorries and gully tankers have been taking industrial action since January. This has led to a backlog in drain cleaning work and the service is now only running at 50%, according an email from council officers shared with CoventryLive.

It reads: "Our Gully cleansing service has been severely disrupted by the ongoing HGV Driver’s (sic) Strike, as all our Gully Tanker Drivers are also taking part in the Industrial Action. We have been able to get the service partially up and running again in the last few weeks, but we are still only at 50% capacity so you will appreciate we do have a considerable backlog of work to get through."

CoventryLive went out to see if we could see any impact of the strike on the roads round the city and we found several examples. Discarded drinks cans and fast food packaging were quite easy to spot in gutters, some of which appeared to have been there for some time. There were also weeds growing at the side of the road and muddy silt gathering beside kerbs.

Coventry City Council confirmed that drivers with the Highway's Gully Team and two large mechanical sweepers in StreetPride have been on strike since the start of 2022. It added it has been employing contractors for the past couple of months to make up the shortfall.

But Deputy Leader of the Coventry Conservatives, Councillor Pete Male, said the news raises "a number of questions."

He said: "It feels very much as if the issue of striking HGV, drain clearing and road sweeping, drivers has fallen under the radar. A number of questions emerge: How much is it costing to bring in contractors?

"When will a normal service resume in light of the continuing dispute? Are there other service areas within the Council that are suffering as a result of prolonged industrial action?"

Coventry City Council did not respond to a request for comment on the above points.

[rebbonk]

Council leaders have revealed ...

Sadly, the rest of us haven't noticed as the streets are still in the normal dismal states that they are always in. Maybe our new Lord Mayor would like to be public spirited and roll his sleeves up...?