BINMEN and women are set to go on strike after voting overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action.

The GMB has called for last ditch talks to avert a strike after more than 150 of their members employed by Kier Environmental Services on refuse contracts for East Sussex borough and district councils voted in favour of industrial action.

Union officials said the official ballot result showed the workforce had “reached breaking point” with “a lot pent-up anger and frustration” at the attitude of the company.

The union said industrial action had been launched following a dispute over “serious health and safety concerns” as well as reports of “wide-spread bullying and intimidation”.

Workers at Eastbourne voted 85.7% in favour of strike action and 90.5% in favour of industrial action short of a strike while their Hastings counterparts voted 85.7% yes for strike action and 97.1% for industrial action short of a strike.

In Rother, all members balloted voted yes for strike action and industrial action short of a strike.

Charles Harrity, GMB senior organiser, said the £120 million, ten-year waste and recycling contract covering local authorities and 200,000 properties in East Sussex had been beset by problems since its inception in 2012.

He said: “This is as a result of Kier ignoring the concerns of staff related to the conditions of work or treatment of their staff.

“Kier seem to be trying to ignore the problems rather than dealing with them.

“The official ballot result shows the workforce have reached breaking point and there is a lot pent up anger and frustration at the attitude of the company.”

A Kier spokeswoman said the firm was disappointed to hear of the decision to strike but claimed it was less than a quarter of their 377-strong workforce. She said the firm had been in discussions with the union about two instances of safety and well-being concerns and claimed their management had not been supported by the GMB.

She added: “These instances relate to breaches by five employees of our drugs and alcohol abuse policy and a case of potential gross misconduct, bullying and intimidation within the workforce, which we take a zero tolerance approach to.

“It is disappointing that the GMB takes the view that it is appropriate to condone this behaviour.”

The firm said they had a full contingency plan to “maintain continuity of service” in the event of strike action.

A spokeswoman for the East Sussex Waste Collection Partnership, which includes Eastbourne, Hastings, Rother and Wealden councils, said: “The four authorities are closely monitoring matters between Kier and their staff and have asked what Kier’s contingency plans are for coping with a potential disruption to this vital service.”