Havering Council says planned industrial action involving waste-collection staff is set to go ahead from Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October, while it continues to urge FCC and Unite to reach a negotiated settlement. The council says it will monitor the effect of the action and expects some disruption, even with contingency arrangements in place. The update does not say that collections have already been missed, and it does not announce that the employment dispute has been resolved.
The council said its priority was maintaining the services residents expect and pay for. It said FCC remains contractually obliged to collect waste across the borough, and that the contractor has prepared measures intended to reduce the impact. The information is a forecast for the coming week rather than a guarantee of normal collections, because the council says disruption is still likely. It said further updates would be provided as the situation develops.
Collections expected to continue
Under the stated plan, kerbside recycling and bagged waste are expected to be collected on their usual schedules. The same expectation applies to clinical-waste and bulky-waste collections. Residents using those services have been told to put their waste out as planned. The council’s position is explicitly provisional: it describes what is expected at present, rather than promising that every round will be completed without delay during the five days of action.
Garden-waste and communal-bin collections are the areas most likely to be affected. The council said its housing staff have been kept informed and that locations with particular local arrangements may need priority, including sites with rubbish chutes. It has not supplied a street-by-street list of expected disruption. Any locations that are not completed are due to be listed each day, allowing residents to check the status of their own collection.
Contingency arrangements and advice
The council says FCC has secured staff from other municipal contracts and agency workers to support the service. It says hire vehicles have also been sourced to help outstanding work be dealt with as quickly as possible. These measures are intended to minimise the effect of the strike, not to remove the risk entirely. FCC is also expected to deploy resources over the following weekend to help catch up on work that remains outstanding.
Havering’s waste team has contacted the East London Waste Authority to confirm weekend tipping arrangements, as part of the planned recovery work. Residents have been advised to present their waste on the normal day and to check the council’s updates rather than assume that a collection will be cancelled. The council says it will monitor the impact of industrial action and hold FCC to account for delivery of contractual services.
Although the council is preparing for the strike on these terms, it has not set a timetable for individual recovery collections or provided route-level guarantees. The daily list of outstanding work is therefore likely to be the clearest indication of whether a particular collection has been identified for catch-up work. The council says FCC is aware of outstanding locations and will attend to them as soon as possible.
Dispute remains unresolved
The dispute is between FCC, which operates the collection service for the council, and Unite, which represents the workers involved. The council says it has continued to encourage both sides to agree a settlement and remains hopeful that one can be reached as soon as possible. It has apologised in advance to residents who may be affected. For now, the action is planned, the service arrangements are contingent, and the daily updates will indicate any missed work.
