Delays to Cardiff bin collections could worsen as strikes escalate, Unite union warns

The number of bags on the streets of the capital are starting to increase and some public waste bins are full.

More delays to bin collections are possible in Cardiff and other parts of Wales where council workers are striking because of pay.

Members of the Unite union who work at Cardiff, Wrexham and Gwynedd councils have walked out.

A worker at the march today in the capital told ITV News Wales that "they are going on strike because of pay and it is about bringing wages up to where they should be".

Members marched from County Hall to the Senedd.

'People who run this council need to understand how it is'

The woman, who did not want to be named, explained that "people cannot pay their bills or their rent and they are going to food banks".

The demonstration went from Cardiff's County Hall to the Senedd in Cardiff Bay.

They held a banners outside the Senedd.

Unite has announced that its members in Cardiff and Wrexham local authorities will strike for a further three weeks from 25 September to 15 October.

The union said that workers at the two councils are currently in the middle of their first round of industrial action which end, on 17 September.

Workers at Gwynedd Council have started a week of continuous strikes from 11 September 17 September.

Will my bins be collected? Rubbish starts to pile up as council workers strike
Bags are piling up across the city.

The union members "overwhelmingly rejected" the local authority's pay increase offer of £1,925, something the union has described as "poor and a real-terms pay cut".

Clare Keogh, the National Officer for Local Authorities at the Unite union told ITV News Wales that "there will be more strikes and the campaign will be escalated".

Another worker said "people are not getting development and that is because people are not coming into the council because the wages are so low".

He added: "If you can't get the staff into the council, there is more pressure on the people that are in the council to deliver services.

"They are too busy then delivering services rather than getting further training to get into further ranked roles."

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