Union anger over claims by council
UNISON, Unite and GMP criticise comments
Unions have slammed as “unfounded and disgraceful” claims from Stirling Council bosses that their members are responsible for the bins chaos.
Representatives of UNISON, Unite and GMP also dismissed the suggestion that refuse staff had deliberately undermined the introduction of the new waste system.
They were responding to the story in Wednesday’s Observer (November 16, 2016) quoting SNP councillor Ian Muirhead.
He told a meeting of the finance committee he received an email from a member of the council’s management team saying part of the problem with the implementation of the new waste strategy was “staff not cooperating with the new way of working”.
A senior manager later said the comment “was correct at that point in time,” adding: “We would all recognise that as part of the ebb and flow of any new service, there’s a degree of uncertainty and kickback”.
However , a spokesman for the council’s UNISON, Unite and GMB members blasted the comments.
They said claims of staff absences and staff deliberately being unco-operative whilst the new system was rolled out were “unfounded and disgraceful”.
A spokesman for the unions said: “Refuse staff have consistently remained committed to delivering a quality service to the people of Stirling even whilst working through proposals that have impacted upon their working terms and conditions.
“When a change as big as this takes place there will always be teething problems of which many are beyond the frontline operational staff ’s control.
“Our members have always been and remain committed to making sure this transformation takes place as smoothly as possible for the people of Stirling. Despite these claims the workforce are determined not to let this impact on morale and just get on with the job at hand.”
UNISON branch secretary Lorraine Thomson added: “It is unacceptable that our members are being subjected to a blame game here whilst trying to deliver a valued frontline service.
“We are led to believe that feedback on social media from the public on the whole has been positive about the new service delivery now the initial stages of implementation has taken place.
“We are meeting with management on a regular basis to ensure that any operational issues the staff are experiencing are addressed and resolved as the service continues to move forward .”
Unite branch secretary Frankie McCallum said: “Our members are receiving positive comments and praise from the public on how well they are managing the roll out of this new service model whilst having to (move) from one service delivery model to another.”
GMB Stirlingshire branch secretary Brian Wilson said: “We praise the efforts made by our comrades within waste services to implement the revised working model over what has been a difficult and frustrating time for members.”
Since September, council workers have been delivering to homes another two wheelie bins in changes aimed at cutting the council annual £2 million bill for sending refuse to landfill and meeting new recycling targets.
However, the roll out has been dogged with complaints over bins not being emptied and when they should be put out.
And the system was also introduced without agreement with unions, representing the bin operatives on the sevenday working arrangement considered vital if the new scheme is going to work properly.
As a result, the council had to pay bin staff overtime to make sure all the bins were uplifted.
However, earlier this month the council confirmed they agreed new shift patterns with the unions.
Managers say the system has now “settled down” and on Tuesday of last week all bins and boxes on routes scheduled that day were emptied.
To comment on this story: email john.rowbotham@ trinitymirror.com, or write to the Observer at 34 Upper Craigs, Stirling, FK82DW.