EMPLOYMENT agencies have snubbed attempts to create an army of strikebreaking bin workers, the Morning Star can reveal today.

Job adverts for temporary refuse workers were placed with four agencies after general union Unite announced that workers in Doncaster would strike.

Rubbish contractor Suez insisted it “respects the right of Unite members to engage in legal industrial action” and would not break the strike.

But one agency told the Star it had been “approached by a middle man” to supply agency workers.

Leeds-based Ideal Recruit said it had initially placed ads for the jobs as it was “under the impression this was to be a new client for ongoing work” and “certainly did not know” it was to blackleg.

“We immediately removed job advertisements and contacted the company to tell them we would be having no involvement with the supply of staff,” Ideal Recruit branch manager Paul Bryan told the Star.

Unite initially raised the alarm after another agency, Aim Recruit Ltd, placed an advert explicitly stating that it was recruiting to “cover industrial action” and that workers “will need to cross a picket line.”

When contacted by the Star, Aim Recruit said the ad had been approved by a “junior” member of staff.

“Once we’d had a look over it and found out it’s illegal we’re not recruiting any more … ” a member of staff at the company, who declined to give his name, said.

A source close to Suez suggested that it could have been the fault of the company’s contractor De Poel, which makes arrangements for agency labour. De Poel could not be reached for comment.

Unite regional officer Shane Sweeting blasted: “It is simply incredible that Suez is more interested in recruiting agency workers to try to undermine the dispute rather than entering into negotiations with Unite.”

A Suez spokesman denied the company had attempted to recruit strikebreakers.

“A recruitment advert was brought to our attention earlier this week and we can confirm that, following internal investigations, Suez had no involvement in the advert or its placement,” he said.

“When Suez challenged the named recruitment agency about the origin of the advertisement, they would not confirm who commissioned it and it was quickly withdrawn from publication.

“We are therefore at a loss to explain who instigated the advert, or why, but we will be investigating further and will take a robust approach to dealing with this issue.”

Ads for temporary refuse workers in Doncaster were also placed by two further agencies, though both denied the ads were related to the strike.

The dispute arose after Suez offered workers a 2 per cent pay rise conditional on the axing of guaranteed overtime. Workers will strike from August 23-27 and from September 2-6.