Coventry bin workers vote for more industrial action

[dutchman]

six-month strike over pay and conditions ended in July last year



Coventry residents face more disruption to bin collections after fresh strikes have been announced.

Unite the union members have voted for industrial action almost a year after a six-month strike over pay ended.

The latest row is about a move to scrap a condition that allows refuse workers to leave work when collection rounds are finished rather than stay until the end of the working day.

The city council says it aims to minimise disruption.

The strike dates have not yet been confirmed.

Members of the ruling Labour group on Coventry council will meet on Monday evening to sign off plans to explore options to remove the historic task and finish condition - including the possibility of completely outsourcing waste collections.

The move is being made because members of another union, GMB, have launched around 200 equal pay claims against the council as a result of the male dominated refuse service benefitting from the condition while female members of staff, in other council departments, do not.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, told the BBC: "Collecting bins is dirty, smelly, heavy work undertaken come rain or shine all year round.

"Task and finish has been the norm for decades and is an industry standard provision that helps make the job more bearable.

"There is not a chance in hell our members are going to sit back and accept it being scrapped - nor should they. Plans to privatise the service are also non-negotiable."

Council bosses fear equal pay claims could end up costing the council tens of millions of pounds if action is not taken as soon as possible, something which could result in cuts to council services.

A spokesperson for Coventry City Council said: "We totally disagree with their stance. Employers and unions must be about equality and fairness to all. But the current and historic working practices in this service area are clearly not.

"This may have been a historical way of working but it is now being challenged as unfair by another union. Unite would do better to sit down and talk with GMB as well as ourselves to find a solution."

[dutchman]

Coventry council and Unite in fresh war of words as bin strikes loom



Coventry council has hit out at the "bitterly disappointing" prospect of more bin driver strikes as a union leader says the action is "inevitable." Talks between the city council and Unite broke down yesterday, 31 July, and both sides appear to be blaming the other for the collapse.

Today a council spokesperson denied allegations from Unite that the authority had issued threats or refused to negotiate in yesterday's discussions. They claimed the union left the meeting "not willing to talk further," and said the council believes the only way through is by negotiation.

The council spokesperson said: "It is totally untrue that we are refusing to negotiate and we are not issuing threats. What is true is that out of over 70 drivers, only were 42 were Unite members, of which only 19 voted for strike action."

The council also defended its plans to scrap the 'task and finish' way of working which led to a number of Unite workers voting for strike action. This condition allows workers to leave when their collection rounds are finished rather than at the end of the day.

But Coventry city council has previously said another union has challenged this way of working as unfair and claims it will be hit with more equal pay claims if the practice continues. In a statement today, a spokesperson said: "If we do not end task and finish then we will have a yearly bill which can only lead to job cuts and cuts in services.

"This would be terrible news for employees and for Coventry residents. We believe the way through this is by negotiation so it is bitterly disappointing that the union appears to be taking its members towards strike action once again.

"They left yesterday's meeting not willing to talk further. If we do get to the point of strike action we know this will cause disruption for our residents and want to reassure everyone that we will do all we can to minimise the disruption this will cause as well as continuing to work with all unions to resolve these issues."

But in a statement on its website yesterday, Unite claimed threats of significant cuts to bin worker terms and conditions had been made by the council during the talks, which then broke down. They claimed more than 40 bin drivers had voted for strike action in response to council plans to end task and finish, which it linked to equal pay claims.

Union leaders also said the union went into discussions "with an open mind" and claimed the council is "refusing to negotiate in any meaningful way." General secretary Sharon Graham said: "Coventry council’s race to the bottom agenda for its workers has been laid bare.

"The council agenda is not about genuine equality, it is instead about equalising the misery." She added: "Unless the council climbs down from these atrocious plans, strike action is inevitable.”

Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said after the talks broke down: “Unite went into talks today with an open mind and was prepared to negotiate. Unfortunately, rather than talk, the council issued ultimatums and threats and refused to negotiate in any meaningful way.

"It is clearly intent on disregarding Labour principles and forcing wages and T&Cs downwards for both the refuse workers and its other staff. Negotiations have collapsed and Unite will be announcing strike action in due course."

[dutchman]

Coventry bin workers to be balloted over fresh strike action



Bin workers in Coventry are to be balloted on whether to take fresh industrial action in a dispute over pay and conditions.

The Unite trade union said 55 members of the loading team were to take part in the ballot ending on 24 October.

More than 40 refuse lorry drivers, employed by the Labour-controlled authority, had already voted for strike action, Unite said.

Coventry City Council said it was "disappointed" by the move.

The employer was "attempting to impose significant cuts to the workers' terms and conditions", Unite said.

A bitter dispute between lorry drivers and the council led to a six-month strike in 2022.

The new disagreement concerned the practice of "task and finish", which currently allowed crews to leave work early if they had completed their round, said the council.

It said its position was that the situation must end.

It comes after members of another union, GMB, launched about 200 equal pay claims against the council as a result of the male-dominated refuse service benefitting from the arrangement while female members of staff, in other council departments, did not.

The council said it had been negotiating with members of three trade unions "for a number of months" on the matter, but had failed to get to a position on which they all agreed.

"This means we now need to explore other options as we have been really clear that it is absolutely non-negotiable that task and finish must end," said the authority in a statement.

"It is not an attack on crews who empty bins, no matter how the union tries to present it."

The council added: "It is important that we protect the council from any potential future equal pay claims."

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "If another strike goes ahead, residents will only have their councillors to blame.

"Coventry Council needs to learn from its mistakes and quickly negotiate and end this dispute."

[rebbonk]

I doubt they'll get public opinion behind them, and if the council goes bankrupt any victory might be short-lived!

[dutchman]

Council pledge over Coventry's bin collection service amid strike threat



Council bosses have pledged to continue Coventry's bin collection service amid a new strike threat. The city council has issued the statement in the wake of an announcement from Unite the union.

Unite has confirmed that it will ballot 55 refuse workers for strike action and action short of a strike from Tuesday, October 10 amid claims of 'significant cuts' to the workers’ terms and conditions. These claims have been denied by the local authority.

Ina statement provided to CoventryLive following Unite's announcement, the council said that their position is 'not an attack on workers' as claimed by the union. It went on to reassure residents that a bin collection service would continue if strike action is agreed.

A council spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that Unite the union has decided to ballot refuse workers for strike action and action short of a strike. For a number of months, we have been talking to all trade unions to try and collectively agree a position to modernise working practices.

"However, despite our best efforts, we have not been able to get to a position all three trade unions can agree on. Our position it is not an attack on crews who empty bins, no matter how the union tries to present it.

“We will need to await the ballot result but we want to reassure residents that we will do all we can to continue to provide a bin collection service." The ballot over strike action is set to be held until Tuesday, October 24.

Then the decision will be announced. Should members vote for strike action they will join more than 40 HGV refuse lorry drivers employed by the council who have already voted to stage walk-outs.

The plans come after months of strike action in Coventry from bin workers saw the council draft in council-owned Tom White Waste to empty bins.

[dutchman]

Coventry bin strike: Workers vote for further action



A second group of workers on Coventry's bin lorries has voted in favour of strikes in a dispute over pay and conditions.

The Unite union said nearly three-quarters of the loaders who empty bins had voted for strikes and other industrial action short of strikes.

They join lorry drivers for the city council, who have already voted for action.

The Labour-controlled authority said it was "frustrated" by the vote.

The dispute concerns "task and finish" working practices, which allow crews to go home early once their scheduled work is done.

The city council had said it was "absolutely non-negotiable" that the practice must end.

It has given rise to equal pay claims, because the male-dominated refuse service benefitted from the arrangement while female members of staff in other council departments did not.

Calling the vote a "wake-up call" for Coventry City Council, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham [pictured] said: "There is now a short window of opportunity to prevent industrial action before the workers announce a winter of strikes."

The authority said that while it respected workers' right to strike, it was frustrated as no decision had yet been made on changing their terms and conditions.

It added that it hoped collections would continue despite any action, as only a small proportion of crew members belonged to Unite.

"Our focus now is on ensuring we can continue to provide a bin collection service across the city," it said.

The dispute follows a six-month strike at the start of 2022, which ended when drivers accepted a 12.9 per cent pay rise.

[dutchman]

Bin strikes loom as council prepares to fire and rehire workers



Every council bin worker in Coventry is set to have their contract terminated in a bid to end a lengthy dispute over working conditions.

The move could mean more bin strikes in the city with Labour-run Coventry City Council preparing to vote next month on the plans.

The proposals would involve the firing and rehiring of 130 members of staff in the waste services team.

The Unite union urged a rethink and said the council was using "some of the worst tactics" by employers.

Onay Kasab, Unite’s lead officer, accused the council of “a race to the bottom” and warned of more industrial action by their members.

Council officials argued change was needed after failing to reach an agreement with Unite members over the end of a practice known as task and finish.

The condition means bin workers are able to finish their shifts as soon as their work is completed.

But it has led to more than 200 equal pay claims from female members of staff at the council - who argue the male-dominated waste services team receives a benefit they do not.

The other option on the table was to terminate workers’ contracts and completely outsource the service but the BBC understands the preferred option among the Labour council leadership was to dismiss and re-engage existing employees.

Staff would be offered contracts on the same terms, condition and pay but with the task and finish condition removed, the authority said.

Andrew Walster [pictured], director of the council's street scene and regulatory services, told the BBC the council would continue dialogue with Unite and employees but removal of task and finish was non-negotiable.

He said: “We cannot continue with that practice going forward and we have to change it one way or another.

“Unfortunately there are none of the normal routes. We can’t buy this out as a term and condition, because that would be buying out and potentially producing another equal pay claim, and none of us want that.”

Mr Walster also said there could be some job losses as part of the planned changes to the way the waste collection service was delivered.

For Unite, Mr Kasab, Unite’s lead officer, said forcing employees to give up existing conditions would be “an absolute disgrace”.

He said: “This is a Labour administration planning to use some of the worst tactics used by some of the worst employers, by firing and rehiring. I hope that, once this news goes out, that there’s a rethink.”

Mr Kasab also warned there could be disruption to bin collections over Christmas, with members having already voted for strike action.

A previous strike over terms and conditions in 2022 led to a six-month strike.

He said: “If the council are looking at firing and rehiring our members on worse conditions, then industrial action is very much back on the table.”

[dutchman]

There was no communal bin collection here in Spon End yesterday as far as I can tell?

[dutchman]

There was no communal bin collection here in Spon End yesterday as far as I can tell?

Ditto this week.

Our collections appear to have been cut from twice a week to once a week and rubbish is overflowing as a result.

[dutchman]

We certainly had one this week. They made so much noise I thought they were digging the road up!

A clean-up crew - possibly from Citizen - also arrived the next day to remove the fly-tipping. The latter is the fault of local residents rather than the council.