[News] Brighton waste collection strike….

[Westdene Seagull]

But I suppose this is another thing which no party can resolve. If the council are beholden to this long recycling contract then whoever is elected has no chance of improving the situation.

Of course this contract and quite obviously the waste one should have never been entered into, totally agree with that.

But down the line, the contracts which councils enter into will be even worse. With central government cuts and massive pressure on budgets across the country, councils will have no choice over these sort of deals. They'll have to enter the cheapest and the longest, no matter the terms.

See my post above - there is no contract.

 

[Worthing exile]

not really as changing the routes is all the GMB mention. does that seem a reasonable grounds for strike?

Surely once the truck is full, the driver goes off to Beddingham (or is it now Hollingdean) empties and resumes the round. At the end of the day, they either finish or work overtime.
Changing routes does not seem unreasonable unless they are expected to collect an impossible amount.

Funny when I worked for the Council, more work of the same level of competence was never grounds for a pay rise. I was just told to work harder.

 

[Swansman]

Surely once the truck is full, the driver goes off to Beddingham (or is it now Hollingdean) empties and resumes the round. At the end of the day, they either finish or work overtime.
Changing routes does not seem unreasonable unless they are expected to collect an impossible amount.

Funny when I worked for the Council, more work of the same level of competence was never grounds for a pay rise. I was just told to work harder.

Maybe you should have fought for your rights

 

[Wrong-Direction]

I pay a considerable amount in council tax. Part of the service I'm paying for, is a weekly service to empty my bins. That service is not being delivered.
That is the result of the bin strike. The end customer is suffering.

The binmen claim they want to provide a service to the customer, but their actions do not match their words.
I don't consider being taken off your usual round and given a new round, a valid reason to strike.

No employer in the private sector would last long if its staff were that resistant to redeployment.

This, my part of the deal is putting it in the bin.

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[Chicken Run]

You're confusing the waste management contractor and City Clean - City Clean are a council department - there is no contract. City Clean - i.e. the council - collect the waste and then a third party contractor deals with what is collected ( sent for recycling, burned in Newhaven etc ).

Well at last someone who knows what they talking about, I’m assuming the third party you’re taking about with the remainder of the infamous 39 year contract is Veolia.

I guess it makes total sense because if Veolia were responsible for these strikers it would be them at the negotiating table not the council right?


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[Weststander]

From the horses mouth, I just chatted with a BHCC bin man near-neighbour, so here's the lowdown;

- He said this isn't about pay, but bullying/intimidation by the bosses. ("Although a pay rise would be nice").

- Only the drivers are actually on strike, making the GMB strike fund viable.

- BHCC now run the whole thing. Ecovert/any private entity are long gone.

- They (BHCC) have never got it right at Hollingdean.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Well at last someone who knows what they talking about, I’m assuming the third party you’re taking about with the remainder of the infamous 39 year contract is Veolia.

I guess it makes total sense because if Veolia were responsible for these strikers it would be them at the negotiating table not the council right?


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Correct on both counts. It amazes me people on here think that the council would be responsible for pay and T&Cs if City Clean were a contractor.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

From the horses mouth, I just chatted with a BHCC bin man near-neighbour, so here's the lowdown;

- He said this isn't about pay, but bullying/intimidation by the bosses. ("Although a pay rise would be nice").

- Only the drivers are actually on strike, making the GMB strike fund viable.

- BHCC now run the whole thing. Ecovert/any private entity are long gone.

- They (BHCC) have never got it right at Hollingdean.

Interesting but he's wrong on point three - so he should be more accurate and say all the collection and sorting services are in house. There is then the contract with Veolia to dispose of said waste.

 

[Chicken Run]

From the horses mouth, I just chatted with a BHCC bin man near-neighbour, so here's the lowdown;

- He said this isn't about pay, but bullying/intimidation by the bosses. ("Although a pay rise would be nice").

- Only the drivers are actually on strike, making the GMB strike fund viable.

- BHCC now run the whole thing. Ecovert/any private entity are long gone.

- They (BHCC) have never got it right at Hollingdean.

If the council have never got it right I suppose going forward would it be too much to expect the workers to write up their most suitable working conditions, get them agreed by City Clean and move on?

At least then the council would have got it right since 2021……


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[Uter]

See my post above - there is no contract.

They were commenting on the low recycling rate which in no small part is down to the small range of waste that is recycled in B&H compared to other areas. Things are unlikely to improve until this contract is up, unless they can find a lot of money to throw at the problem.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Bollucks. I'm on the voluntary Tidy Up Team for Brighton and I tidy my area and all around these bins and regularly sort out the recycling chucked all about and not in the bins and I'm complaining so you're talking out of your backside and making many assumptions...... and breathe.....

You leave all the commas behind though.

And you're one person, great you do your bit.

 

[Chicken Run]

Correct on both counts. It amazes me people on here think that the council would be responsible for pay and T&Cs if City Clean were a contractor.

Me thinks many commenting on this thread don’t actually live in the city[emoji6]


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[PILTDOWN MAN]

But the over-riding problem is that they are (ultimately) financed by local taxpayers and local government budgets. These are small and reducing. Binmen may well deserve a payrise, but it's simply not tenable to give them one in the current climate.

And nurses by the taxman as well but everyone wanted them to get more.

 

[Weststander]

Interesting but he's wrong on point three - so he should be more accurate and say all the collection and sorting services are in house. There is then the contract with Veolia to dispose of said waste.

He's obviously only interested in his employment and management by BHCC.

The process of garbage from Hollingdean to Newhaven doesn't affect his contract situation, it's not his concern.

Our chat wasn't a formal examination on Sussex Waste Processes 2021.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

not really as changing the routes is all the GMB mention. does that seem a reasonable grounds for strike?

unless maybe the route changes mean they are missing overtime opportunties.

Bullying as well. Do you know what they deem is bullying? I don't so unless I'm in the talks directly or hear first hand I don't hold a view.

 

[Surf's Up]

No, not at all.

I just look around Sussex and don't see these issues elsewhere. As I said in my initial post, the recycling rate in Brighton is awful.

You have the perfect storm in Brighton - a powerful union and a naïve Council.

This is the nub of the matter - the management of the bin service are old school and pretty incompetent and the union are also old school and pretty militant. The GMB have, for the last 15 or so years, been dominated by a "gentleman" by the name of Mark Turner who is a little man with a big ego. The two sides have no respect for each other and disputes blow up at the drop of a hat. Nothing will change until the lead characters are removed.

 

[Weststander]

If the council have never got it right I suppose going forward would it be too much to expect the workers to write up their most suitable working conditions, get them agreed by City Clean and move on?

At least then the council would have got it right since 2021……


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During the late 70's strikes (the sick man of Europe), as a kid I always blamed the union leaders.

No doubt there are a load of people here who metromoncially always blamed the management. They might still do so.

As I opened my mind and grew up just a bit, I realised that both were often shit, dragging this country down. I'm Alright Jack is a great parody, but close to the mark, of post war UK. Whilst Italy surged ahead for example.


So, I'm wondering if the entire operation at Hollingdean is hopeless. Beligerent bosses, which gets the back up of determined unions/staff.


My solution - get someone in who's a concilliator by nature, from a large conurbation where refuse collection runs well to head up the department and make a fresh start.

 

[Uter]

Labour, Green, Tory, coalitions .... they've all failed, it's literally been 20 years (or more) on and off of:

- Industrial disputes, waste piles.
- Shockingly low recycling rates compared to other UK conurbations. Genuinely strange, when we're a touchy-feely, rainbow sweater wearing city that purpoetedly ticks a load of virtuous credentials.

The council are certainly not blameless for low recycling rates. It's hard to always know what can and cannot be recycled. I suspect a lot of recycling has to be rejected because of contamination with non-recyclables due to people being ill informed.

But let's not kid ourselves. There are plenty of people who care not one sh*t and don't bother to recycle anything at all. That cannot be blamed on the council.

I am in the process of getting a lock for our recycling bin because some of our neighbours are less than neighbourly. I don't mind the odd bit of additional recycling in there, but I find any old crap in there. I found an umbrella deposited in there the other week. Some people are responsible citizens. An annoying amount are selfish lazy c*nts.

 

[beorhthelm]

Bullying as well. Do you know what they deem is bullying? I don't so unless I'm in the talks directly or hear first hand I don't hold a view.

however bullying isnt mentioned in the GMB statements, though gets thrown in occasionaly by their spokeman. i dont understand why it wouldnt be in the official statements if its part of the official greivence. i also cant understand why the drivers have long standing rounds or why its so important not to change them.

"Workers voted to strike vote comes over a dispute with the city’s Green council over their refusal to intervene and settle an ongoing dispute around unilateral imposed daily changes and removal of drivers from long standing rounds without process, by management whim. "

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

[MENTION=534]Chicken Run[/MENTION]

You're right and would never want too.

It's always appeared a bit grubby to me.

I live in the countryside where idiots think nothing of dumping a houseful of shit in a driveway/layby.

I do find it odd though. Having spent many years on here, reading posts after posts of how workers rights are being eroded especially by the nasty Tories etc. How everyone should be paid well and so on. Yet here we are and there's only a few of us who are prepared to hear out these workers. Added to which one of them, me, has been a Tory most of my life (not anymore!!)