Binmen may strike over bullying claim

Binmen may strike over bullying claim

14 March 2013 - by BY DAVID TELFORD

DOWN Council binmen are threatening industrial action over alleged bullying in the workplace by senior staff.

Binmen staged a one-hour protest outside the council’s Strangford Road depot on Tuesday morning to highlight their concern, warning the protest could be the first of many and may well lead to an all-out strike.

The GMB trade union, which represents council cleansing staff including binmen and street sweepers, claimed they are being shown a lack of respect by senior council managers.

GMB official Mr. John Dawson said complaints about cleansing staff being bullied by council managers were investigated by the local authority.

But he said binmen are concerned that none of the staff who made a complaint were interviewed and that

no senior staff were disciplined.

Mr. Dawson said binmen are also concerned they have not been provided with details of a health and safety assessment of their bin collection routes.

The assessments — which have to be carried by law — examine a variety of issues including where bin lorries have to stop and reverse and what risk this poses to binmen and road users. Mr. Dawson said requests for a copy of the assessment have to date been refused by council managers, with no explanation why.

He said Down Council has provided a copy of the assessment to the Health and Safety Executive as it’s legally obliged to do, but claimed the organisation does not yet have all the information it requires. Mr. Dawson said this is an issue which causes the GMB and its members a great deal of anxiety.

He continued: “Feelings are running very high at the moment and that was the reason for yesterday’s protest which could be the first of many.

“The GMB is seeking a meeting with council managers to discuss the concerns of its members but have been told it will be the middle of next month before this happens. That is simply not good enough,” declared Mr. Dawson.

“If the issues we have raised are not addressed, we will contemplate balloting our members for industrial action which could lead to an all out strike. Binmen feel they are being shown a lack of respect by council managers and treated with disdain.”

The GMB official said it’s imperative council managers meet with the trade union as soon as possible and that the discussions are “open, honest and transparent” in a bid to resolve the various issues. He said any decision to ballot members on industrial action would not be taken lightly.

Mr. Dawson added: “We want to work with Down Council to resolve the issues which have been raised. We believe in negotiation not confrontation.”

A council spokeswoman said the organisation was not made aware of yesterday morning’s protest which she described as “unlawful” as Down Council had not received any prior notice from the GMB.

In response to the concerns raised by the binmen’s trade union representative, the spokeswoman said they relate to internal staffing matters, with Down Council unable to provide any further comment.