Update 27.8.25
Wrexham Council and Unite are pleased to confirm that – following positive discussions today – the proposed strike action will no longer take place.
As the bank holiday approaches there will be changes to collections. Alongside this, there is industrial action scheduled for Saturday the 30th of August which means we need to put measures in place to minimise disruption to customers.
As per the last bank holiday we won’t be carrying out any collections on Monday the 25th August and collections will shift by a day. If you’re a Monday collection, your waste will be collected Tuesday. If you’re a Tuesday Collection, your waste will be collected on Wednesday. This pattern will continue for the rest of the week.
If your regular collection day is a Friday collection and are due a general waste collection on the 29th, please put both your general waste and recycling out on Friday. We will collect your waste either on the Friday or on the Saturday however it is important that you put your both general waste bin and recycling out promptly on the Friday. If we are unable to collect your waste on Saturday due to the industrial action, we will be unable to collect this waste until your next scheduled collection.
If you’re due a garden waste collection on the Friday the 29th, due to the industrial action we can’t guarantee to collect these. If we are not able to collect your garden waste we will aim to provide an extra collection at the end of the year for anyone who was missed.
Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
Latest statement on Unite Strikes from Interim Chief Executive at Wrexham Council Alwyn Jones:
Wrexham Council are disappointed that Unite are progressing with this action. Streetscene remains an important service that is delivered to the public and over the years significant support has been put in place to develop this part of the workforce. In 2025 from discussions and agreement with the trade union, there was an opportunity for the majority of Streetscene 1 operatives to move to the Streetscene 2 operative role which meant an increase in their pay of £1,265 per year and additional training provided. Over the last four years there has been development and succession plans put in for those that wish to escalate to a charge hand type role by creating a Streetscene 3 Operative role to support career progression amongst the workforce.
Due to the difficult financial position that we in Wrexham face and all public services in Wales continue to face, we look at all areas of the Council to see where efficiencies can be made. This is one of many changes that have been implemented in the last 12 months to achieve an efficiency and to maintain a balanced financial position for the council and to protect services to the public . The movement of working from a Bank Holiday Monday to a Saturday was consulted upon and only 19 responses were received out of a workforce of 245 that disagreed with the changes. This particular saving will reduce our current costs by £100,000 and has gone through the Council’s processes and committee cycles and consultation processes.
For clarity around the reported £3,808,252.13 additional funding for Environmental services. This funding was ring-fenced to cover the costs of managing packaging waste and can include upgrading or expanding facilities, sorting and processing packaging waste and Implement technologies that improve material recovery rates and reduce contamination. All Local Authorities must be able to demonstrate that the grant was invested in improving recycling rates. Without clear evidence of this, there is likely to be financial sanctions applied against future annual allocations of said funding.
We remain committed to this workforce and to deliver the service internally to the people of Wrexham. We are willing to engage in discussions to avoid this action and hoping a resolution can be found and to return to having a positive partnership relationship with the Trade Unions.
