Brighton and Hove binmen are threatening strike action over changes to how they work and proposed job losses.
Members of the GMB union – which was last year heavily criticised in a report into bullying and intimidation at Cityclean, the city council’s refuse service – have voted 95% in favour of balloting for a strike.
The union also says management is not dealing with issues including vehicle breakdowns, and has hit out at senior supervisor roles being earmarked for redundancy.
Lib Whitfield, GMB senior organiser, said: “GMB members work hard to deliver a service, but they’re being hampered by everything from vehicle breakdowns due to management not acting on defects, to inconsistent and unfair treatment.
“All this massively affects the service for residents, but rather than deal with the problems, management expects workers to bear the brunt of changes, with a huge knock-on effect to residents.
“Brighton’s refuse workers do their best, but they do not feel listened to.
“The scheduled talks must be meaningful if we are to avoid an escalation that nobody wants.”
Last week, a Twitter account used by GMB Sussex branch secretary Mark Turner, who has been off sick since the report was published last autumn, promised “chaos set to hit the city of Brighton” in one of a series of quickly deleted tweets.
A consultative ballot of GMB’s 119 members at the Cityclean depot in Hollingbury saw 95 per cent in favour of being balloted for industrial action over the changes.
The union says workers are concerned about disruption to their workloads and the city because of no clear processes for tipping.
It says the council is proposing redundancies of the most experienced senior supervisor roles in favour of higher paid operations managers who do not have the extensive experience of the city or the refuse industry.
And members say they lack adequate PPE, safety on site is poor, facilities such as drying rooms often have no heating and no driers and none of these issues are being looked at by management.
The service desperately needs a round restructure, to ensure rounds are balanced, and a digital system, which has been promised for years.
It says none of these measures are part of the consultation.
Brighton and Hove City Council has been approached for comment.
He we go…..again. Well maybe this administration with such a huge majority can effect change. Who’se betting?
That’s no surprise it must be at the most two years since they last went out. Over to you Bella.
What percentage of the city clean workers are unionized? How many workers are there?
Its all they have left, strike. Now real changes are being implemented for now and the future the clowns that ran it down have less power but the Union with certain councillors still quietly in place then strike is it will be. your Council tax is still going up every year with less accountability for what tax payers actually get for their money,,, any refunds coming for the decade long P””s poor service from certain providers ??
City clean management has been a joke for years I am secretary of Hollingdean Residents Association and also a former GMB shop steward although not at Cityclean
Over the 10 years I’ve been a resident rep we have had more complaints about Cityclean than any other BHCC department.
Too many woke managers who know nothing about running this department and too few experienced workers.
Have you tried to report a missed refuse or recycling collection lately
The management are a joke not answerable to residents or even Local councillors.
It’s easy to report a missed collection. There’s a link on the council website. I make frequent use of it…
You’re so right, I’m sick of these woke managers that are too sensitive to stand good old racist, homophobic, misogynistic demeaning behaviour. Thank god we’ve got people like you to stand up for white men.
Ian, you’re better than using woke in an statement. It kinda ruins everything you have to say.
Gmb are horrendous
Right on cue, just as Mark Turner predicted.
Self-fulfilling, or premeditated?
Underworked and overpaid. Falling back on their usual threats to strike. Is because they’ve been found out as a toxic place to work?
Incorrect. Hgv drivers earn more doing a lot less
Would it not be cheaper in the long run to sack them, pay them the money and start again?
How would rubbish collection work after sacking all of them and recruiting a new team?
*after sacking and before recruiting
Well it’s not going to work during a strike is it ? Maybe better to get it all out the way up front ?
There is absolutely no public support for them this time round, and much for the Council. The GMB has failed to distance itself from the actors of the previous report that found all manner of nasty there.
Any ballot by the GMB should be challenged in court. Their bullying tactics have been highlighted in the previous report and are likely to be evident now.
Cancel their contract – sack the entire force and bring in a company that runs the service without unions, strikes and demands for more pay. Greed is slowly taking over – residents deserve a reliable service.
I think the GMB have lost momentum. Its taken them 5 months from the KC report to throw this strop. Back in the day they would have been out within weeks
Not weeks 20mins max,
I am sure momentum are in there somewhere 🙂
As usual the GMB get their press release reported in the local press without taking questions
The council probably respecting confidentially won’t respond.
The reported 95% of members balloted is like Kim Jong Un being elected by 99% of voters IMO
What about the binwomen, of which we have several? Are they going to hold the fort alone? Women running the world again? Perhaps women are banned from GMB? Now that would be a journalism piece worthy of publication. Or are all the refuse workers being balloted for strike action and this is another Brighton end Hove news case of every day sexism?
Going on strike eh… how will I be able to tell when they start?
Sack the lot and recruit new staff from the pool of immigrants! The work will be done and the money would go to people who appreciate the opportunity to have a job.
Why go on strike, it feels like they’re on unofficial strikes regularly. Sack the snowflakes and employ people who “want” to work!
Their a law on to themselves that lot,4am they were collecting bottles from pubs on North Road the other morning, must be leaving the depot at 3.30 am or earlier, I’m sure when the round is over and they rock back up into the depot it’s home time for them,there is rules to be applied but like I said, a law on to themselves.
The idea of going on strike is so the public feel a bit of discomfort. But as bins are frequently missed by these bin men, it would be hard to notice if they were on strike!
I’ve always considered myself to have strong beliefs in the Trade Union movement but I’m absolutely sick of Brighton and Hove bin men ahd their constant strikes and thrests of striking!
There are people doing far worse and harder jobs for a lot less money than these bin men for a lot morw hours and they can’t or don’t go on strike through fear of being replaced in an instant!
Lib Whitfield appears now to be a ‘GMB Membership Development Officer’ currently based in Hove, according to her Linked In profile, although she’s described as a ‘senior organiser’ in the article. and says she was one previously. I don’t know what all that means, if anything useful, but hopefully B&H ratepayers aren’t funding her. Interesting profile on Linked In actually, as she doesn’t seem to have any experience whatsoever with bin issues or the kind of macho posturing and goings-on that were exposed by the KC, and she doesn’t seem to inhabit a machete-laden office at Hollingdean depot either, so presumably in her Hove office she’s got s digital copy of the Mark Turner manual for mayhem to refer to and is using it., for reasons best known to herself and her superiors. Still, at least I’ve got an answer to my question on another thread about whether or not anyone at senior level in the GMB is prepared to own up to the union’s past disdemeanours/behaviours and get a grip. Obviously, they’re not, so why on earth would any halfway intelligent person want to be a subscription-paying member? Sheep is a word that comes to mind.
And still no word on Unison, who were apparently pushed out/excluded by the GMB. Do they want a strike ballot too ?
It says a lot that they are talking about strikes even before the action plan on the KC’s report is fully implemented, but it probably never will be fully implemented when I read the other day that one of the remedial actions requires months of consultation with the unions before anything happens, if it does.