Coventry bin workers vote for more industrial action

[dutchman]

We've missed TWO communal-bin collections this week!

The area around the bins is filthy and residents have to walk through it to gain access.

There are also tiny kids living just feet away.

[dutchman]

Finally got our communal bin emptied yesterday and most of the mess cleared up.

However I have a feeling they're grooming us to expect fewer collections in future and will soon halve them again?

[dutchman]

Outcry as Coventry bin lorry staff set to be 'fired and rehired'



Staff at Coventry City Council are set to have their contracts terminated in a long-running dispute over 'working conditions', union officials say. Unite says the entire refuse collection workforce will soon be sacked as part of plans for them to be 'fired and rehired.'

Bosses have been in longstanding negotiations with the Labour-led authority over changes to the working practices for the refuse collection team and the removal of a rule which allows workers to go home when all work is completed, widely known as 'Task and Finish.' All of the refuse workers will now be laid off and re-hired, says Unite.

Unite has described the move as 'totally abhorrent and entirely unnecessary.' Workers in the refuse collection department have an active mandate for industrial action and are likely to strike at Easter, they say.

Coventry City Council were said to have put forward several proposals to resolve the dispute, all of which Unite reportedly accepted. Unite says they have now withdrawn the proposals and will be pressing ahead with firing and rehiring workers in a move which has been described as 'abhorrent.'

General Secretary for Unite, Sharon Graham said that the firing and rehiring of refuse workers was 'disgusting.' She claimed that the decision also places Coventry City Council in direct contravention of the Labour Party, which has called for such practices to be banned.

Leader Keir Starmer has previously stated his commitment to outlawing firing and rehiring staff, saying: “We would ban fire and rehire, it is as simple as that. It just needs to be done.”

Ms Graham added: “Unite never takes a backward step when the jobs, pay and conditions of its members come under attack. Coventry City Council is now on notice that Unite will use every possible avenue to get this disgusting decision reversed.”

Unite National Lead Officer Onay Kasab described the move as 'reprehensible.' He said: “Unite has in good faith been involved in extensive negotiations with the council and has accepted several proposals only for them to be then taken off the table.

“It is now clear that Coventry was never committed to securing a just settlement for its workers. It is almost inevitable that the decision from Coventry City Council decision will result in fresh bin strikes and the inevitable disruption for local residents is directly a result of its actions.”