Against a background of ongoing industrial action over changes to collection rounds, Newcastle city council has said it is “ironing out teething problems” through discussions with crews and trade unions.
At the same time, the GMB union has said that it too is hoping for a “compromise” on the Newcastle collection changes.
The disruption to waste and recycling services in Newcastle upon Tyne has been ongoing since the beginning of April 2016 when a new approach to service delivery was introduced. Newcastle describes the aim as being to “harmonise working arrangements and implement new ways of working which will improve efficiency”.
Under its “Ambition in the face of austerity” programme, the authority has an aim of saving 12% or £916,000 from its refuse and street cleansing budget – which had an expenditure of £7,496,300 in 2015/16. As part of this the authority has planned to reduce 33 jobs out of a total of 265.
‘Job and knock’
The trade union has suggested that the council wants to see an end to the “Job and Knock” approach to collection rounds where workers can start early and go home when their work is finished.
The unofficial action by some collection workers has been ongoing since mid-April, which has seen households in the Heaton, West Denton and Walker districts of the city missing collections. Daily updates are being posted by the city council on its website and the council has apologised for any “inconvenience” caused to residents.
The action is unofficial as a ballot for strike action has not been called for by the GMB union.
According to the GMB, the city council has changed working practices meaning workers must now work their full hours of about 8am until 3pm. Some workers involved in the action are now working-to-rule, which means the employees are entitled to do no more than the minimum required by the rules of their contract.
A council spokesman told letsrecycle.com: “The new ways of working currently being implemented will save the council £900,000 in the current year without a reduction in front line jobs and we have been working constructively with staff to plan implementation since October 2015. We know that many crews have been able to complete their rounds effectively under the new procedures, proving that the new approach can work. We are ironing out the remaining teething problems by working with staff and their trade unions.”
Placement
One of the issues involved in the revised collection rounds is also thought to involve the placement of bins once they have been emptied. The council is understood to be keen to see bins returned more “neatly” to households than may have been in the past.
Stephen Thompkins, regional organiser north east for GMB, said he hoped there could be some “compromise” with the council.
He said: “The employer has changed working practices. The biggest change is that the council has withdrawn ‘job and knock’.”
“The suggestion is you start by 8am and finish about 3pm, with an hour for lunch and other rules – We don’t believe the changes will work.”
“The majority of our workers start well before 8am – they get more done by starting earlier because there is less traffic. The crews can clear 10-20 streets by 8am. We believe they won’t be able to finish the round by starting later.”
“We have said it is not working, and we are willing to talk. I am hopeful that the talks could bring a result. We accept that Newcastle city council doesn’t want our members starting at 6am and going at 12 noon. Obviously there is going to be a compromise.”
Independent Newcastle councillor Marc Donnelly has claimed the council has spent £26,000 of taxpayers’ money to clear a backlog of 20,000 bins.
Cllr Donnelly said: “The council has told me they have spent £26,000 on six new refuse trucks, and paying staff overtime, which I don’t believe will led to any net saving.”
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Talks continue over Newcastle collection changes (2016) Available at: http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/talks-continue-over-newcastle-collection-changes/ (Accessed: 6 June 2016).
