Pay row to see rubbish pile up on city streets

Published on Wednesday 1 July 2009 09:57

RUBBISH is to be left piled high on the Capital's streets until council chiefs can find a way of breaking a deadlock with the city's binmen.

Refuse collectors began working to rule last week over plans to cut their pay as part of modernisation proposals currently being considered by the local authority.

Binmen said the move would see streets including the Royal Mile covered in rubbish within days, but council chiefs have told homeowners to leave their bags out until they are collected.

The council is today expected to announce measures to deal with the backlog, as it emerged the pay proposals could also affect janitors working in the city's schools.

Binmen are among those who could see their pay packets hit under plans to change the current system, in which wages are supplemented with payments for attendance and productivity.

The city's janitors, who are currently paid around 13,000 a year, say they also face having their basic wage cut, as well as overtime payments scaled back.

One janitor, who did not want to be named, said he and his colleagues had been told they were among those to be "red circled", meaning their pay would be affected.

He said: "The council are starting with people at the bottom of the pile, cutting their pay, when they should be starting with those at the top."

He said the proposals included cutting double pay for overtime to time-and-a-half, money upon which many janitors rely to help supplement their incomes.

The proposed cuts are among a series of modernisation measures currently being considered by the council and are part of a move to simplify pay arrangements for public sector workers across the country.

Among the measures are a review of "single status" arrangements relating to the disparity in pay between men and woman.

Many female council workers do not receive bonuses and scrapping the payments for their male counterparts is seen as a way of making the system fairer.

The council has proposed the introduction of 12 broad pay grades, which it said would lead to around 20 per cent of staff having reduced pay after three years.

The council said around 80 per cent of its staff would not lose out, with around a fifth of those gaining from the proposals.

A council spokeswoman said: "Modernising our pay and conditions of employment will help to make sure that pay for our employees is fair in comparison to their colleagues.

"A small number of council staff, mainly those who receive bonuses as part of their take-home pay, may see a decrease in their earnings at the end of a three-year pay protection period. We will give opportunities and skills training to help minimise any adverse impact on staff."