City bin men set to reject new pay deal

Published on Friday 7 August 2009 10:11

THE prospect of more bin chaos on the Capital's streets was growing today with fears bin men are set to rebel and oppose the pay deal on the table.

Union officials were today set to complete two days of crisis talks with members over the council's offer.

Although they are recommending approval of the deal – which would see the bin men return to work as early as Monday – it is understood that many members do not want to accept it.

If the Unite union is not able to gather enough support for the proposals from members, it could lead to the work-to-rule continuing or even an all-out strike.

Sandy Smart, regional industrial organiser at Unite, said: "We are talking through with members where we are at the moment. They will get their say and then we will take it from there."

One bin man, however, told the Evening News: "This will never go through in a million years. They're asking us to do more roles for less money."

The talks continued as it emerged the raft of private contractors called in to help get the city's rubbish collections back up to speed are set to continue working next week even if the council bin men do go back to work. A council spokeswoman said the contractors will continue to "clear the backlog" and get the city back to normal "as quickly as possible".

The latest update on collections shows that communal on-street bins are currently between one and two days behind schedule, while trade waste is expected to be back to normal within days.

There is still a "limited service" for garden waste as domestic collections have been prioritised. But an improvement on scheduled collections is expected within three weeks.

Plastics and packaging banks were expected to be back to normal today, while community recycling centres are operating normally and kerbside red and blue box collections are unaffected.

Meanwhile, Unison, the biggest union at the city council, with more than 8, 000 members, today confirmed that meetings with members on the modernising pay deal are continuing. The talks could lead to an additional industrial action.

Agnes Petkevicius, branch secretary at Unison, said: "We are consulting with members on the proposals put forward by their employers. At this stage, we are just looking to ensure that we cover all of the options to improve what is available.

"This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to our members in terms of their contracts. It is a complete change to some of their terms so we have to take our time and ensure we get it right."

WHAT'S ON OFFER

THE council's proposal – which would see refuse collectors become neighbourhood environment workers – would result in basic pay changing from 12,234 to 15,986. However, staff would be responsible for more duties.

Under the new scheme, staff would not receive the current bonus of up to 6,729 for full attendance.

Instead, they would be eligible for a "shift payment" bonus of up to 4,573, depending on factors like the time of their shifts. It means some staff would earn less overall.