I DO not understand why for weeks now the population of Brighton and Hove have had to put up with our streets constantly awash with rubbish! The population of Brighton and Hove are just so placid.

We put up with all of these strikes, the inconvenience, and the piles of rotting rubbish and we simply fold our arms and say ‘tut tut’. Then we still pay the council for the privilege.

The strikes, organised by the GMB union, are because the drivers of refuse wagons want more pay than the six people who walk the streets with a heavy trolley, sweeping and picking up rubbish.

But why is there a dispute in the first place? The drivers involved here should count themselves lucky they are even in a job these days, and the wages they earn are not exactly low.

There are many workers who probably work harder and earn less for their efforts. As regards these six street cleaners who are being paid the same as the drivers, surely they work a lot harder walking miles each day in all weathers, manually pushing a heavy cart and picking up rubbish, then pushing that cart back to the depot is harder than sitting in a heated cab of a wagon and occasionally getting in and out?

I was a commercial driver for 35 years and in the eighties drove a refuse wagon in Worthing.

The crew walked miles each day lifting heavy metal bins. It was a heavy day’s work and we were paid less than current drivers!

So as I said, be glad you are in work, and stop grumbling because six people who work harder than you get the same pay.

Let's get our streets clean again, our bins emptied when they should be, and keep them that way. This ‘Green’ Council and Cityclean ought to get their act together and serve the people who pay their wages.

George Mower
85 Hardwick Road, Hove