Crunch meeting in city bins dispute

Published on Friday 9 October 2009 10:52

HUNDREDS of council workers are set to come together for the first time today for a make-or-break meeting in a bid to end the city's bin dispute.

All workers who have been involved in the work-to-rule will meet at Easter Road Stadium in a mass meeting arranged by the trade union Unite.

The city council has paid for the hire of the room at the stadium and a fleet of buses that will transport 400 staff to the venue from depots around the city in the hope that a resolution can be found to the three-and-a-half month dispute.

It will be the first time that all of the staff taking part in the industrial action, including bin men, gardeners, toilet attendants, street cleaners and grave diggers, have come together since the dispute started.

It is understood that a number of environment workers are now keen to end the work-to-rule and return to normal work.

But many bin men – who account for around 170 of the staff involved – are said to still be against returning to work, with many looking to escalate the dispute further and call an all-out strike.

One union source said: "We really don't know what will happen.

"It could be all back to work, it could be strike action, it could be the status quo.

"We need to get everyone together and decide where to go next. We are hoping something can happen but we'll have to wait and see."

The cost of the room at Easter Road is thought to be around 400, while the bus transport is likely to cost the council hundreds of pounds more.

Andrea McHugh, head of environment at the city council, said: "We are doing everything we can to try to reach agreement with the various trade unions representing the manual workers affected by the proposed changes.

"The unions are holding a meeting to consult with their members and this could be as many as 400 people. These meetings would normally be held in a council depot but there is no depot large enough for that many people to meet without there being safety issues.

"For that reason, we have assisted the trade union by providing a venue and transport to and from the venue to reduce travelling time and therefore minimise the amount of service disruption."

Council managers have been holding meetings over the last fortnight with many staff currently on the work-to-rule and are thought to have explained proposals that have led to many staff being willing to return to work.

However, bin men have refused to hold meetings so far and unions will present details to them at today's meeting.

Stephen MacGregor, a convener for Unite, said: "It is an opportunity to get everyone involved in the dispute in the one venue to discuss where we are."

When asked if there will be any vote on ending the dispute, he said: "We will put to members how we want to go forward. I don't want to say too much at the moment, but that is what the meeting will be about."

He added that he hopes to discuss a solution to problems with staff pay being docked for "partial performance" during the work-to-rule.