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Brighton and Hove bin strikes could be ended today (From The Argus)
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Brighton and Hove bin strikes could be ended today
6:00am Tuesday 10th November 2009
Binmen in Brighton and Hove will vote today on whether to suspend their two week strike against proposed pay cuts.
With large piles of rubbish already building up across the city, the 300 striking workers will hold a meeting at 11am at the Hollingdean Depot to discuss a new pay offer from Brighton and Hove City Council.
The deal was presented to their union, the GMB, by the council after two crisis meetings yesterday.
Our report from the picket line at Hollingdean depot on the first day of the strike.
GMB branch secretary Mark Turner said he was happy enough with the offer to present it to the workers today but the decision to accept it would be up to them.
Mr Turner said last night: "We will hold a ballot at the end of that meeting over whether to suspend the strikes for 56 days. I can't pre-empt what the members will do. It is an offer I am willing to present to them but I don't know whether they will take it."
If the CityClean staff vote in favour of suspending the strike they will return to work on Wednesday morning and start clearing the piles of rubbish which have built up.
The two week strike started yesterday and followed a work-to-rule which began last Thursday.
The 300 workers are among 800 across the council who have been threatened with pay cuts of between £2,000 and £8,000 each.
The CityClean staff have an average wage of around £19,000.
The council has proposed the cuts to meet new equalities laws which mean it cannot pay some unskilled workers more than others.
At present refuse staff have a higher salary than others, including teaching assistants and library workers.
It has tried to lower pay at CityClean rather than raise it elsewhere.
Both the council and GMB declined to disclose the details of the latest offer last night.
Council leader Mary Mears spoke about the dispute for the first time yesterday.
She said: “The council has made a proposal to the GMB about how it intends to implement fair pay and the union has agreed to put it to its members tomorrow.
"We feel it balances our duty to protect the pay of our employees while avoiding passing on unnecessary costs to the council taxpayer.
“We’re hopeful the union will accept the offer so that our staff can return to work as soon as possible.”
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Your Say YourArgus
Asbo, says...
8:18am Tue 10 Nov 09
r2dean2, brighton says...
8:30am Tue 10 Nov 09
WE'RE BEHIND YOU!!!
bbrh, Brighton says...
8:41am Tue 10 Nov 09
abinman, says...
8:44am Tue 10 Nov 09
Bennn, Kemptown, Brighton says...
10:14am Tue 10 Nov 09
Boris D, Btn says...
10:39am Tue 10 Nov 09
Andy R, Hove says...
10:50am Tue 10 Nov 09
Boris D wrote:No they're not.
Everyone is having to take pay cuts, why are the bin men any different, there are loads of unemployed people that would be grateful of a job
Bennn, Kemptown, Brighton says...
10:51am Tue 10 Nov 09
Boris D wrote:Well that's "everyone's" fault for not fighting against pay cuts. At least the bin men aren't afraid of going on strike. I see the bosses never get pay cuts!
Everyone is having to take pay cuts, why are the bin men any different, there are loads of unemployed people that would be grateful of a job
RAS Putin, Brighton says...
11:01am Tue 10 Nov 09
abinman wrote:Give 'em hell, binman!
We will stand firm and also to the people that have had wage cuts your wage will go back up when the reccession is over, our pay will stay low for ever so thats why we are fighting for our rights and once again thank u for your support and hopefully by fri all the rubbish will be cleared up :)
RickH, Hove says...
11:38am Tue 10 Nov 09
UglyAmerican, Hotlanta says...
12:20pm Tue 10 Nov 09
It doesn't really matter. Public sanitation & sewers are probably the most important developments in human history, particularly around the concept of cities. Without the ability to move human waste, in all forms, away from the population in a controlled fashion, you would be experiencing rampant disease that would make the plague look like the sniffles.
The definition of "unskilled" is constantly evolving. Soon enough, the ability to operate a computer will be considered a baseline skill that all the workforce should have, and no special considerations will be given to those who can do so. Many capabilities that are considered a part of the basic working skill set today were once considered special capabilities. Reading & basic math come to mind.
Asbo, says...
12:36pm Tue 10 Nov 09
r2dean2, brighton says...
12:59pm Tue 10 Nov 09
£14.500 appox for a street sweeper.
not alot really for the abuse they get, and thats just from the cityclean managers who could to arrange a prayer in a church, let alone a bin collection.
Tatty Bojangles, Brighton says...
1:07pm Tue 10 Nov 09
Granny, Brighton says...
1:10pm Tue 10 Nov 09
Voice of Unreason, B&H says...
1:26pm Tue 10 Nov 09
Granny wrote:Ahhh, Granny - he is "skilled"...
Why should a driver get more than the bin men? He sits on his backside all day while the bin men do all the heavy work and all the walking to and fro. Seems a bit unfair to me.
I know, it makes me laugh too....and yet street sweepers who do a job that really is tough, and none of us would want to do, are only on £13,000.
I think the wages should be reversed.
Voice of Unreason, B&H says...
1:31pm Tue 10 Nov 09
£14.500 appox for a street sweeper.
not alot really for the abuse they get...."
People keep mentioning this 'abuse' What abuse?
People have every right to have a go if their rubbish is left behind, or left strewn all over road as it very often is where I live.
We pay their wages. That gives us the right to complain if the job's not done properly.
RickH, Hove says...
1:59pm Tue 10 Nov 09
r2dean2 wrote:What abuse? Strikes me you're grasping at straws to justify a wage that is obviosly inflated when compared to other jobs with a similar weight in both the public and private sectors; whether its £19K for a driver, £16.9K for a 'bin lifter' or the reported average of £19k - time to get real chaps!
About £16.900 for a binman £14.500 appox for a street sweeper. not alot really for the abuse they get, and thats just from the cityclean managers who could to arrange a prayer in a church, let alone a bin collection.
deni, brighton says...
2:46pm Tue 10 Nov 09
Voice of Unreason, B&H says...
3:46pm Tue 10 Nov 09
deni wrote:Well, someone who claimed to be a street sweeper on a previous posting said they earned £13k and were going to have to take a £2k drop.
Where does the £14,500 come from I read on an earlier comment from a road sweeper that he was earning £18,000 a year.
So someone's making it up - or maybe the council is so stupid that they employ 2 people doing the same job with a pay differential of 5 grand!
All of the above are possibilities...
Jack Cade, Lewes says...
10:18pm Tue 10 Nov 09
nomates, says...
8:07am Wed 11 Nov 09
Brighton and Hove bin strikes could be ended today
300 refuse workers are striking over pay cuts
Piles of rubbish have built up across the city
The workers have refused to take any cuts
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sharronw, says...
7:44am Tue 10 Nov 09