REFUSE workers are refusing to back down as they continue to strike over claims about a £3,500 pay cut.

The binmen will only collect food and general waste until May 7.

Thurrock Council bosses say they are working to minimise refuse disruption as Unite the Union strike action continues.

Temporary household waste drop-off points will be made available across Thurrock for residents to dispose of any waste not collected during the strike action.

One bin worker, 47, from South Ockenden who attended, said residents have been very understanding.

He said: “The support from residents has been amazing, almost unanimous.

“People are understandably angry about rubbish piling up but they realise it’s the result of a council that is acting in an unfair and amoral way.

“We are open all the time for a negotiated end to this and we hope the council does the right thing.”

Unite the Union says the strike is over Thurrock Council’s plans to “brutally cut their pay and conditions”.

It claims refuse workers, highways maintenance and street cleaning teams are the target of proposed cuts of up to £3,500.

But Thurrock Council insists the union signed an agreement which included £800,000 investment in pay in the first year of a four-year pay deal.

A council spokesman said: “Continued claims that the council is cutting the annual salary of staff who work in any council service are simply untrue.

“Proposed changes will impact allowances that staff receive across the council, not just those in the waste service, and for the vast majority the impact of the pay review overall is positive.

“Overall the pay review, including the current proposed changes to allowances, result in the majority of council staff being better off financially than they were before the pay review began.”

Drop-off points include: The former Yara Terminal site, Purfleet-on-Thames, RM19 1PA, the former Culver Centre site, South Ockendon, RM15 5BX and the former council depot site, Curzon Drive, Grays, RM17 6BQ