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Residents face 'days without rubbish collection'
4:40pm Thursday 14th February 2008
Comments (69)City residents face the prospect of days without their rubbish being collected after talks to resolve wildcat strike action by binmen broke down.
More than 300 binmen and street cleaners have vowed to continue the unofficial industrial action, which will affect the whole of Brighton and Hove, until their demands are met.
They said the stalemate between them and their management had not been broken during the second day of the strike today.
Talks to make the strikes official were taking place with a ballot possibly taking place tomorrow.
Rubbish was already building up in streets around the city.
Jean Clarke, 65, from Roedale Road, close to the refuse depot in Upper Hollingdean Road, Brighton, said: "I support the rubbish collectors if they are suffering poor working conditions.
"But at the same time I hope the issue is resolved quickly because otherwise the bins will be chock-a-block in a few days."
Brighton and Hove City Council has admitted it has no contingency plans in place to deal with the waste if the strike continues.
Crucial to the disagreement between the binmen and their management, council subsidiary Cityclean, is the breaking up of long-established crews.
Simmering frustration about being overworked because of a shortage of refuse trucks and agency staff boiled over on Wednesday after one worker was allegedly called "fat and lazy" by a senior figure within the management.
The allegation has been denied by Brighton and Hove City Council but a spokesman admitted that changes to crews had sparked the strikes.
Binmen said discontent has grown since November when financial cutbacks made by the council led to fewer lorries operating out of the depot.
Although workers told The Argus they want to get back to work as quickly as possible, they said the strikes would only be called off once their concerns had been addressed.
One said: "We want to get back to work because we feel like we're letting the public down.
"But at the same time we can't do a proper job at the moment because of the cutbacks and changes which have been made. If the management can make concessions to us then we will be back in the job right away."
They said they wanted the management to cancel unofficial disciplinary action they had taken against two binmen who were moved to different crews as punishment for being "inefficient".
Gill Mitchell, leader of the opposition Labour group on the council, said she was writing to Jenny Rowland, the city council's environment director, to quiz her on financial cutbacks made in the autumn.
Cuts from the city council's environment budget totalling £400,000 are being proposed for this year and next year and Coun Mitchell wants clarification over whether this had directly led to cutbacks within the Cityclean service.
A council spokesman has apologised to residents for any "disruption and inconvenience".
Do you back the binmen? Tell us what you think below.
Your Say YourArgus
george, brighton says...
5:03pm Thu 14 Feb 08
the punished, says...
5:21pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Dave C, hove says...
5:21pm Thu 14 Feb 08
If the council want to go through a cost-cutting exercise then perhaps they should look at the bureaucrats and their huge pensions
del, hove says...
5:25pm Thu 14 Feb 08
mel, brighton says...
5:46pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Angryman, hard at work says...
5:47pm Thu 14 Feb 08
If the workers don't stand up to this Tory/New Labour council cost cutting we'll ALL be without a decent refuse service, permenantly.
They keep putting up our taxes yet vote themselves massive expense bonuses and hire private consultants to do their job for them at 100 times the cost. Don't you lot remember the £2million the council wasted on trying to privatise all OUR council homes last year?
Up the binworkers. For decent funding of refuse collections and recycling. They fulfil an absolutely crucial role in our society.
Remember, they're not being paid while they're on strike plus they'll still have to catch up with the collections missed so these hard workers aren't doing this for an "easy ride".
Support your binworkers in their fight with this tinpot council. They're fighting on our behalf!
penny, pavilion says...
5:49pm Thu 14 Feb 08
the organiser, says...
5:51pm Thu 14 Feb 08
humpty, brighton says...
6:18pm Thu 14 Feb 08
penny wrote:are you a family of borrowers? tiny little people with tiny rubbish.
Lets ask the important question of why if people recycle they need a bin full of rubbish each week? Ou bin takes 4 weeks to fill as after recycling everything we can and buying loose rather than packed veg etc, we only have a small carrierbag of rubbish each week.
I was told by the council that we can only have 2 recycling boxes, yet have seen some houses with 5 or 6.
I presume you are one of those people with more.
It also seems that it depends what kind of area, and if it is more afluent - whether you get more recycling boxes or a larger wheelie bin.
penny, pavilion says...
6:36pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Fed up with Brighton Council, Brighton says...
6:46pm Thu 14 Feb 08
humpty wrote:I think people should ask for bigger bins. I did and I got one in 24 hours. Mind you I did send an email which was a tirade of reasons I could not possibly cope with a small wheelie, six of us in the house and what about when my brother and his family are visiting, it was a veritable stream of consciousness. If you sound like the local nutter they will give you one to shut you up. So get on the email folks and demand a bigger bin than the standard issue as they do have them to give out.
penny wrote:are you a family of borrowers? tiny little people with tiny rubbish.
Lets ask the important question of why if people recycle they need a bin full of rubbish each week? Ou bin takes 4 weeks to fill as after recycling everything we can and buying loose rather than packed veg etc, we only have a small carrierbag of rubbish each week.
I was told by the council that we can only have 2 recycling boxes, yet have seen some houses with 5 or 6.
I presume you are one of those people with more.
It also seems that it depends what kind of area, and if it is more afluent - whether you get more recycling boxes or a larger wheelie bin.
The bin men have problems because the wheelies are too small and everyone just leaves the rubbish around the bins. It all falls out the top as they take the bin to the lorry cos people have overloaded it and then they get the blame.
I back the bin men against council bullies. The crews on our street have always been really pleasant.
Stroller, Hove says...
7:06pm Thu 14 Feb 08
bilder, brigton(polska) says...
7:15pm Thu 14 Feb 08
crispen, hove says...
7:17pm Thu 14 Feb 08
humpty wrote:humpty, are you sitting on the wall regarding this issue?
penny wrote: Lets ask the important question of why if people recycle they need a bin full of rubbish each week? Ou bin takes 4 weeks to fill as after recycling everything we can and buying loose rather than packed veg etc, we only have a small carrierbag of rubbish each week.are you a family of borrowers? tiny little people with tiny rubbish. I was told by the council that we can only have 2 recycling boxes, yet have seen some houses with 5 or 6. I presume you are one of those people with more. It also seems that it depends what kind of area, and if it is more afluent - whether you get more recycling boxes or a larger wheelie bin.
humpty, brighton says...
7:24pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Paul, Hollingdean says...
7:31pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Power to the people.
I really need to get out more.
george, hollingbury says...
7:38pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Paul wrote:yes i remember paul. do you remember the great pile of stinking rubbish at preston park
Cor !!! take me back to the 70's and 80,s. Strikes, flying pickets, scabs and loads of cops. Mass demos in Hollingdean and all just down the road from me BRILL. Power to the people. I really need to get out more.
paul, Hollingdean says...
7:43pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Paul, Hollingdean says...
7:43pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Paul, hollingdean says...
7:54pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Whitehawk is a great place despite all of the negative press. lets keep this debate to the point shall we
Paul, hollingbury says...
7:58pm Thu 14 Feb 08
the punished, says...
8:02pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Paul, Hollingdean says...
8:05pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Paul, Hollingdean says...
8:09pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Had enough, Brighton says...
8:12pm Thu 14 Feb 08
the punished wrote:Why should I support you! if you don't like it get another job. If i went on strike, my business would go bust. Get on with it and do the job you're paid for.
im a dustman on strike, i have a wife and two children of 10 and 13 to support so to go on strike is not a half hearted choice for me to make, if i thought the reasons were silly and pointless i would have gone to work and scabed out on my fello work mates. but what we are doing is just and right and if anyone out there was being treated like this by there managers i would back them all the way. so come on show your support.
Staurat Williams, Brighton says...
8:38pm Thu 14 Feb 08
council binman, hollingdean says...
8:50pm Thu 14 Feb 08
you can slag us off moan that were not doing are job thats fine as binmen were used to the abuse the small minded minority give us after all were just doing what were told by our managers like not collecting extra bag's if it's not out on the pavement were are not allowed to go on to private property to get the bin so be my guest belive everything the argus/council tells you we will go back to work take the crap we get from our so called managers and when your service goes to fortnightly collections and you rubbish is piling up and your recycling is overflowing you can sit back and say i helped create this mess, so dont support us as we are just scum to you all sit in your ivory tower and think your better than anyone else cos it wont be long till you are charged to empty you bin
they used to call the country great britain what a joke, no wonder this country is a joke with the small minded people who live in it
i'm a dustman my name is SPIKE if you want to discuss this further you know were i work
split bag man, cafe in north road says...
8:52pm Thu 14 Feb 08
pay the dustman/street sweepers/recyclers a decent wage.
make them all work the time that they should.
give them the vehicles they need.
50grand may buy part of a vehicle-get rid of a top waller-a proper manager can do thier job anyway.
dont muck around changing crews.-if it aint broke-dont try and fix it...
and dont forget-the people of brightons patience is wearing thin--you wanted the council to take charge from sita--you got your way(or you followed the union ),now live with it.
Flat Foot Soozie, Brunswick Square says...
9:39pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Yes, yes, I know that tobi will say what about my posts here...
binman, brighton says...
10:45pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Fred Graham, Hove says...
11:29pm Thu 14 Feb 08
Colin, Brighton says...
7:22am Fri 15 Feb 08
Dave, Brighton says...
8:52am Fri 15 Feb 08
Roger, Brighton says...
9:27am Fri 15 Feb 08
kjfedn wrote:Prabably fairer if you just held back the proportion that pays for the waste collection and disposal - and that's no more than £2 a week per property. But anyway you don't have a contract with the council - they have a statutory duty to collect right, you as a citizen are required by law to pay tax. If either you or the council fail in their duty it does not exempt the other.
Does this include recycling. They didn't pick my recycling up today and its my bins tomorrow.Its ok if it goes on for very long I just won't pay council tax for the councils breach of contract.
fiveways resident, says...
11:15am Fri 15 Feb 08
dave c, Hove says...
11:28am Fri 15 Feb 08
Bins dispute ends in agreement
Brighton & Hoves refuse collectors strike has been resolved and crews have gone back to work today (Friday February 15).
Union representatives and managers reached an agreement to end the dispute, which was about which rounds two workers were allocated to.
Gillian Marston, Head of Cityclean, the councils waste collection arm, said: This has all been rather a misunderstanding so it was a shame it escalated so quickly.
The GMB union has been very helpful getting it sorted out. Weve reached an agreement that everyone is happy with - including the two crew members.
I cant go into all the details of the agreement because its private information about those two people. But generally it means staff accept the principle that we can ask them to work flexibly and move them occasionally when workloads demand.
Crews will now work to clear any backlog of refuse left on streets by next Friday (Feb 22). However normal schedules will be disrupted until then.
Residents are advised to put their refuse out on their usual day but to double-bag anything in black plastic sacks.
Dave, Brighton says...
11:42am Fri 15 Feb 08
quoteem to do it or else they are out of a job. They've got the life of riley!
Michelle, Woodingdean says...
11:55am Fri 15 Feb 08
penny wrote:Lucky you to be able to recycle - I would love to but I live on the 2nd floor flat with a kitchen thats 6 foot by 6 foot not even big enough to put a pedle bin in, with no garden or front to put a recyling box we even have our wheely bins on the path. I am also disabled so please tell me what am I suppose to do? Its no good condeming people for not recycling when its not possible for some especially people in flats. There simply is not the room.
Lets ask the important question of why if people recycle they need a bin full of rubbish each week? Ou bin takes 4 weeks to fill as after recycling everything we can and buying loose rather than packed veg etc, we only have a small carrierbag of rubbish each week.
Ian, Brighton says...
12:09pm Fri 15 Feb 08
penny wrote:We recycle as much as possible and have 1/2 to 1 bin bag of rubbish a week. I'd say about 2 bin bags full of recycling.
Lets ask the important question of why if people recycle they need a bin full of rubbish each week? Ou bin takes 4 weeks to fill as after recycling everything we can and buying loose rather than packed veg etc, we only have a small carrierbag of rubbish each week.
We still need a bin collection every week as we have no outside space for a bin, and our flat would stink if they only collected rubbish every 2 weeks.
Colin, Brighton says...
12:12pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Graham, Portslade says...
12:50pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Moon Pig, Brighton says...
12:58pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Michelle, I'm afraid I have to diagree slightly. I too have a small kitchen and live in a block of flats, and I still manage to find space to store recycling, in a cupboard under the sink. It's not ideal and I have to empty it once a week but I do it because I want to recycle. I am sure that you could work around it and find something that suits you?
If everyone took responsibility for what they bring into their homes and made sure they bought with recycleable or no packaging, the rubbish would be reduced, thus reducing disposal costs... see where I'm going here?
It really irks me to see people who can't be bothered and have too many bags outside their houses. It's not the fault of the guys who pick them up that people are just too **** lazy to care...
Flat Foot Soozie, Brunswick Square says...
1:08pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Colin wrote:Perhaps he has got a blackberry?
Dave Brighton comments at 0852 then again at 1142 and talks about other peoples cushy jobs, Hmmm
I can be seen looking at mine in Barney's every now and then but prefer a desk or laptop for the internet.
Perhaps the dustbinmen will be demanding blackberries next.
Eco Man, Kemp Town says...
1:11pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Flat Foot Soozie wrote:It might help if the dustmen had satnav in their trucks.
Colin wrote:Perhaps he has got a blackberry?
Dave Brighton comments at 0852 then again at 1142 and talks about other peoples cushy jobs, Hmmm
I can be seen looking at mine in Barney's every now and then but prefer a desk or laptop for the internet.
Perhaps the dustbinmen will be demanding blackberries next.
LB, Hove says...
1:59pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Graham, Portslade says...
2:13pm Fri 15 Feb 08
LB wrote:Funnily enough, LB, I dealt with the issue of blackberries (and their relatives, the cheeses) on another page. I hope it can be of help to you.
Council site says strike over but disruption to collections until next Friday whilstthey all get to grips with their new blackberrys.
dan, brighton says...
3:36pm Fri 15 Feb 08
angie, Hove says...
4:16pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Big Cheese, Peacehaven says...
4:23pm Fri 15 Feb 08
charley, frontroom says...
5:13pm Fri 15 Feb 08
the punished wrote:I AGREE WITH YOU IT ONLY TAKES ONE BAD APPLE TO MESS UP A GOOD CROP, I NEVER LIKED STRIK ACTION BUT IF THAT SORTS IT OUT THEN DO IT.I BACK YOU ALL THE WAY.
im a dustman on strike, i have a wife and two children of 10 and 13 to support so to go on strike is not a half hearted choice for me to make, if i thought the reasons were silly and pointless i would have gone to work and scabed out on my fello work mates. but what we are doing is just and right and if anyone out there was being treated like this by there managers i would back them all the way. so come on show your support.
quote
brightonian, brighton says...
5:53pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Are your lives really that boring? you all have s**t attitudes and need a kick up the a**.no one else ever has to strike because theyre treated properly with the proper tools.as were employed by a council that tries to fill theyre own pockets with tax payers money rather than use it for what its supposed to be.we cant do the job properly.
today we all went back to work and had many crews not be able to go out as they were short staffed!!!!
one of the exact reasons we were striking.the argus are full of c**p and are trying to sell papers by making us look bad.us dustman have suffered for this strike.weve lost out on money and have a hard week ahead of us.
And as for these dim wits who keep saying "they were proper men in the old days" these are stil many of the same bunmen from the 70's!!! so dont talk that c**p
so get back to your little jobs that dont contribute what so ever to society.we do a job that needs to be done.
eh?, says...
5:58pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Eco Man, Kemp Town says...
5:59pm Fri 15 Feb 08
brightonian wrote:He sounds jolly cross.
how many of you are actualy from brighton? you lot have nothing better to do but spend your time slagging others off.
Are your lives really that boring? you all have s**t attitudes and need a kick up the a**.no one else ever has to strike because theyre treated properly with the proper tools.as were employed by a council that tries to fill theyre own pockets with tax payers money rather than use it for what its supposed to be.we cant do the job properly.
today we all went back to work and had many crews not be able to go out as they were short staffed!!!!
one of the exact reasons we were striking.the argus are full of c**p and are trying to sell papers by making us look bad.us dustman have suffered for this strike.weve lost out on money and have a hard week ahead of us.
And as for these dim wits who keep saying "they were proper men in the old days" these are stil many of the same bunmen from the 70's!!! so dont talk that c**p
so get back to your little jobs that dont contribute what so ever to society.we do a job that needs to be done.
Becky, Brighton says...
5:59pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Me, here says...
5:59pm Fri 15 Feb 08
brightonian, brighton says...
6:06pm Fri 15 Feb 08
eh? wrote:What's a c**t? I'm sure your well acquainted with the word.It was a typing error!
Whats a bunman?
cd-r, says...
7:09pm Fri 15 Feb 08
x, Starbucks says...
7:11pm Fri 15 Feb 08
brightonian wrote:Ooooh someone's had a coffee
eh? wrote: Whats a bunman?What's a c**t? I'm sure your well acquainted with the word.It was a typing error!
Dean Langman, brighton says...
7:54pm Fri 15 Feb 08
dean langman, brighton says...
8:19pm Fri 15 Feb 08
Dave, Brighton says...
8:39pm Fri 15 Feb 08
kjfedn, rfjehbf says...
4:57pm Thu 14 Feb 08