Theyve been on strike for a few weeks,as theyre haveing their wages alledgedly reduced to conform to union demands that council staff get paid equal rates for doing work of similar worth, one chap gets £18,000 for emptying bins,its not difficult is it bins are those large green, blue or grey things full of rubbish.
I think council have had to increase a lot of women's wages who were illegally getting paid less, and the better paid binmen are having to foot the bill. Or something.
Glad it takes us 3 weeks to fill a bin, as that's how often our bin's getting emptied now.
Suprised they haven't called out the military to fill in for the strikers as usually happens. Oh silly me, our military is a shadow of its former size and whats available is rather busy elsewhere or supporting operations elsewhere.
sod the military. Let's get some contract binmen in & use the wages we're not paying the strikers, to pay for it.
Oh and BTW, the whole refuse service is up for tender in November. Do we think the in-house bid stands a chance? No? neither do Leeds City Council. "The in-house bid is shot" was the phrase they used...
Thank the lords of refuse I live in Bradford district 😉
Instead of paying unemployed people to sit at home, why cant they be paid to empty the bins, now thats got to be an election promise by somebody.
they're on strike because their bosses are proposing to cut their salaries by up to £6000 a year. which is obviously totally unacceptable.
would you accept your boss forcing a major deduction of wages on your salary ? would you f##k. no one goes on strike lightly these days - for one there are so many legal hurdles to be met prior to calling the strike for another people don't get paid on strike - these workers should be admired for standing strong and putting their money where their mouths are.
the tory leader of leeds council is on app.£200,000 a year - why don't we cost cut on his salary and benefits , no-one needs that amount of salary.
and as for it's only emptying bins - its not exctly hard is it. how much would it take to get you out of bed 5 sometimes 6 days a week to work outside shifting other peoples stinking garbage week in week out in all kinds of weather
it's easy to criticise when your sat at your laptop etc. have you taken the time to talk to these guys on the picket lines and get their side of the story ? no i didn't think so.
it's also easy to get fired up against workers such as binmen due to the nature of the consequences of them striking, in this instance rubbish piling up etc. well if you want it to stop and get things back to normal rather than picking on the workers and/or the unions, vent your anger towards the bosses they have come up with the proposals , they are the pay masters they are the people responsible for the bins not getting collected in leeds.
theyre haveing their wages alledgedly reduced to conform to union demands that council staff get paid equal rates for doing work of similar worth
If we did not work to get them worse conditions than they were currently on it would be very difficult to recruit and retain members. 🙄
The government brought in the equal pay act in the early 70's
'kin 'ell john drummer - i never had you down for a psuedo fascist neo liberal !
get contract workers in to do the work of the striking bin workers ! thats scab labour !
pay the unemployed to clear the bins ????? so that we can make the bin men unemployed ? great policy - lets accelerate the race to the bottom by financially undermining everyone.what do you do ? and how much do you get paid ? i could probably find a couple of dozen people more than capable and prepared to do your jobs for less money.
Ripple of applause for stAn-Bad Brains MBC
I've no idea if the strike is justified or not, but given that you don't get paid, it's not something anyone does lightly.
stAn - I couldn't agree more with you - sorry but I didn't press the sarcasm button hard enough.
This is what LCC [i]are[/i] doing - you only have to listen to Radio Leeds of a morning. The poor sods who do the sh*tty job are shagged left right & centre.
I think (nay, know) the vast majority of Leeds residents are with the binmen on this one, but they're well & truly ****ed. Take a pay cut or else...
Same thing has happened in my local council, dinner ladies etc. should have been on same money as bin men- money backdated, needs to be found from somewhere. Let me see.....now the arseh0les who run the council(execs and councilors) who should have known about this stuff....no that would be crazy, what about the bin men?, street sweepers? etc. Aye they'll do, drop their wages!
thank f##k for that john i was just about to strip you of your skulls (Bad Brains MBC in joke)
what we need to sort issues like this out is the support from all sections of the community - bosses threaten to cut refuse workers pay etc. workers strike and communities mobilise bosses get the message
an injury to one is an injury to all !
lets raise the peoples army and take control of the state - now thats a revolutionary idea 😉
UP THE WORKERS !
speaking of skulls, I need to do a NMD ride soon...might even drag Shaun along
[i]what we need to sort issues like this out is the support from all sections of the community - bosses threaten to cut refuse workers pay etc. workers strike and communities mobilise bosses get the message[/i]
didn't the witch make that illegal?
I remember walking through Wakey at 5am one morning in '84, past the back of my old school, and seeing the convoys of black marias setting off from the police college on Westfield Road(?) towards the mines.
"two nations under one flag, divided more & more, in our own sweet green and pleasant land, in 1984" - NMA "1984"
I can't work out if this is a political master stroke from the council....or a PR disaster (maybe it's both)
I have a hunch that the council have forced the bin men into a (understandable) strike in order to justify refusing (scuse pun) to entertain a bid from an in house team on the grounds that they are trouble makers.
I'm not sure how the bin men will do out of this. Presumably the private companies who will be putting in a bid for the contract will need to bring employees in from somewhere, and this [i]could[/i] include current in-house staff.
This [i]could[/i] be a good thing for them because, being no longer employees of the council, they will not be subject to the equal pay legislation so in theory they could legally stay on the same pay (or more).
By the same stroke it [i]could[/i] also be a bad thing. There are a lot of unemployed people out there right now, driving salaries down through supply/demand, and creating less chance of current bin men obtaining a post with the successful bidder.
I think it is probably likely to be a bad thing for most current bin men, though.
john drummer - How long ago was [i]she[/i] in power and for how many of those years gone by has an apparently socialist government been in power? Hell, for a few years such was their majority they could have pushed through any bill they wanted but strangely they've not even looked at that piece of legistation she introduced.
hey Neil - I think you're not far off the truth, and it can only be a bad thing for the bin men (and any other service that LCC - or any other council - decides to privatise later).
Can you honestly see Acme Refuse Inc paying more for the job than the council were / are hoping to reduce their wages to? I can't.
Imagine you're a bin man with 25 years experience, and no experience of doing anything else. Leeds City Council privatise the refuse service, Acme win the tender. Acme have no staff with experience. The former employees of LCC are now unemployed & have no way - especially in a recession - of getting a job doing anything else. Acme write to the (now unemployed) bin men offering 80% of what they would have been on at LCC if they accepted the pay cut.
Take a job, any job, or sit on the dole, lose your house etc etc?
Rock & a hard place, poor bast*rds
[i]apparently socialist[/i]
there you have it in a nutshell, S&J
there are ways round it
workers take legal industrial action.community mobilises when they are not working (saturday afternoon for starters - doesn't suit everyone but of you're not working at least you can get a ride in first.) march through city to town hall , listen to guest speakers etc. deliver petitons to council etc. speak to press etc. instruct MP's to get involved - thats why you vted 'em in (don't complain about what they do unless you are prepared to really bring them to task - Ed Balls still owes me a pint and not because we are mates !) hell we could even search and destroy a few EDL and BNP monkeys while we are at it.
if we are not getting any where we ramp up the protests - human shield round council offices , road blockades etc. Ok OK it may seem like i'm getting a bit carried away but I've actually seen these tactics employed to great success in south america
one day my friends , one day all this will be ours and all will be equal and live with the dignity they deserve
EL PUEBLO UNIDO JAMAS SERA VENCIDO !
an apparently socialist government been in power?
Do you think NuLab are/were socialist sooty? Genuine question.
[i]all will be equal and live with the dignity they deserve[/i]
I wish. Sadly this f*cking country is too full of "me me me" types for that to ever work.
right. I'm off to BC. Any IT jobs in Vancouver?
I've just heard of an urgent call from Zelaya Bad Brains. Apparently he's in desperate need of an advisor - can you call the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa ASAP ?
Hasta la victoria siempre
I live in Heaqdingley and it stinks! the council need to sort it out quick.
john drummer - But I'm sure that the 'apparently socialist' Labour party was voted for on more than one occassion by Labour supporters who consider themselves proper socialists. You know, the sort who would voted for a shaved chimp if it were wearing a red rosette because, well they've always voted Labour. Sadly, in desperation to get blue tie wearing Tories out many Labour supporters were happy to ignore any remaining principles they had left and vote for a version of the same that wear red ties instead, and for that any true Labour supporter should be ashamed.
I think that's beyond the council 😉
JOKING!
Nachos for me please.
the Labour party as we have known it for the past few years can hardly be described as a socialist party.
that said , asmy grandad used to say - you can't make a silk purse out of a pigs ear , and if ever this country was turned into a pigs ear it wa 1984/85 and the rest of the thatcher/tory years - ask anyone from a mining /steel/engineering/textile/printing background , to name but a few.
for more of this stuff look back in the morning star archives , i've got more than a few rants and speaches printed/quoted in there including a rather prophetic warning about the so called economic downturn and collapse of the banks.
i'll leave you with this one
“Socialism can only arrive by bicycle.”
Jose Antonio Viera Gallo
PEACE
Sadly, in desperation to get blue tie wearing Tories out many Labour supporters were happy to ignore any remaining principles they had left and vote for a version of the same that wear red ties instead, and for that any true Labour supporter should be ashamed.
Who should they have voted for instead?
Dr Doolittle - As I've said New Labour (well just 'Labour' really, thats what it says on the stuff they put through my door) were voted for my many people who consider themselves as having socialist principles and I'm sure they wouldn't ignore those just to see someone with a red tie sitting on the benches to the speaker's right would they?
[i]But I'm sure that the 'apparently socialist' Labour party was voted for on more than one occassion by Labour supporters who consider themselves proper socialists[/i]
aye, and with a general election looming, what choice is left? Vote for NuLab? Tories? WishyWashies? None of the above?
back in '97 it was "anything to get rid of the Tories"; the next General Election was pretty much a continuation of that. And the one after that. And the next one? "Anything to get rid of Brown". That's how Politics works in this country.
£18K? Why did I go to uni again?
Ok it's a dirty job...
It was me that asked sooty, leave drummer john alone 🙁
And the last time I asked you, you gave me a similar answer and avoided admitting that you don't consider nulabour to be a socialist party. Which begs the question why you described it as
an apparently socialist government
when you know it is not. I'd say you know it is a corporate government, one that initiated the American model of administration in the UK. I can understand your annoyance at these people, but to call them socialist is unfair on socialists.
zaskar - deferred gratification
Dr Dolittle - ta, but I did ask it as well.
Sadly this country works on a first past the post system at general election time. In effect this means [b]either[/b] Labour [i]or[/i]Conservative.
No two ways around it while we have a FPTP system - and that's not going to change in my lifetime. PR = Turkeys voting for Christmas (or Thanksgiving if you're from USA or Canada)
So we get a decade or two of party A in power, followed by a decade or two of party B in power, and then it reverses, and so on ad infinitum, and when you look back on it, who can tell the difference?
ranos - 'They' should have been more active at the local level to stop professional politicians (hardly the best people fight the socialist cause, being as they aren't experienced in the real world) from being nominated as candidates. 'They' should have paid attention to what Blair and his gang were actually proposing if they got into power and more importantly, who he was getting money off to fund his campaign. Getting paly with bankers and city folk might after all point to who he would be looking after eventually. 'They' should have ensured that the people theywere voting for were the people they actually wanted to represent them, the Labour party is supposed to be the main party in which the wishes of the rank and file make the most difference.
dr doolittle/john drummer - Do you believe GB would describe the current Labour party as socialist? I know it not and you know its not but it does seem a little strange that so many people with strong socialist values will continue to vote for it, repeatedly. A party that, after 12 years in power, has still not made any attempt to remove from the statute books laws pushed through by [i]that[/i] woman which people, including some commenting on this thread, find so untasteful. Such as making striking in support of other strikers illegal.
Agree with Stan of Bad Brains - its all very well for the senior management and councillors to expect other people, and particularly those who get the lowest levels of pay, to take a pay cut of effectively one-third from £18k to £12k. Why can't they take a pay cut themselves so that the wages of the dinner ladies, or whoever it is they are using for comparative purposes for the equal pay, can be increased to an appropriate level. I also find it difficult to understand how you equate the job of a binman to people who cook lunch at schools.
Even the local MPs are criticising the Council for making unrealistic pre-conditions before they will even sit round the negotiating table.
And surely stating that an "in-house" bid is unlikely to win any contract which is put out to tender (as apparently stated by a senior council official) is against EEC procurement laws.
Leeds City Council could start saving money by getting rid of the expensive speed cameras every 400 metres on the main arterial roads, and not creating ridiculous one way systems which seem to change every year.
'They' should have been more active at the local level to stop professional politicians (hardly the best people fight the socialist cause, being as they aren't experienced in the real world) from being nominated as candidates. 'They' should have paid attention to what Blair and his gang were actually proposing if they got into power and more importantly, who he was getting money off to fund his campaign. Getting paly with bankers and city folk might after all point to who he would be looking after eventually. 'They' should have ensured that the people theywere voting for were the people they actually wanted to represent them,
So it was quite obvious they were not socialists? and not "apparently socialist" either. Really, slagging off ideologies unrelated to a [b]crime [/b]is just not cricket.
Pardon me J the D, thought the sootster was replying to something I'd said.
Do you believe GB would describe the current Labour party as socialist?
He'd describe it as playboy mansion style governance if he thinks they'll get some votes, but Harperson would probably veto that. And Madlescum would like to employ images of the Hitler youth on an Austrian hillside, but that isn't going to happen. Whether they consider themselves as "socialists", as Cherie Booth does, is totally irrelevant.
he might have been, or might not; anyway, I'm off to bed.
G'night John.
I watched
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salò,_or_the_120_Days_of_Sodom ]Salo/ the 120 days in Sodom[/url]
last night. I could understand the anger of the film maker. My favourite scene was the Italian fascists feasting on dung.
I think what I'm getting at is this. With the Labour party being the main party in the UK were grass roots supporters can really (if so motivated) make a difference to the party's direction and policy, that so many people who would consider themselves socialists have sold their principles down the river, voting for a party that is obviously as big a friend of big business and foe to the working man as the party that was in power before, just to get them out of power. In the 12 years this government has been in power it has done very little to quash laws inacted under the Tories that lessen the ability of the working man to take on employers, such as those in Leeds CC, with the assistance of workers in other industries via wide ranging strike action. Yet come the next general election, once again, socialists will file into the voting booth and vote for a party that so obviously views them with contempt.
Yet come the next general election, once again, socialists will file into the voting booth and vote for a party that so obviously views them with contempt.
See, again I would disagree. Nobody with genuine socialist principles would vote for Nulabour. Why would they?
Plenty of people without the courage to vote for something better will. I agree wholeheartedly with your assertion that NuLabour couldn't care less about the historical Labour constituency, and until the sheep
take a cold shower and realise that they have several options on the ballot paper we'll probably have a fake Labour/Conservative dichotomy and two shades of shitty governance for perpetuity.
Still, you cannot describe the last 12 years as Socialism, because that is incorrect.
Guys, lovely to read all the Socialist Worker Bollox. If you have time to post this shite, do you think one of you could pop round and empty my bins please?
It is a mess what is being done to the bin men. Should have been fixed over a decade using natural wastage and staff turnover to equalise the salaries. Instead we hit a brick wall where it "needs" to be done sooner.
For what its worth, its well known that being a bin man (certainly compared with equivalent manual jobs) is a cushy number. The salary, pension and hours worked are better than any equivalent private sector job.
Do I agree with cutting their pay? No. Freezing it maybe? Or even restructuring it so that they don't lose out and get the balance in bonuses.
The situtation is a mess. But left wing shyte nearly killed our car industry, knackered our mining industry and is about to do the same to postal and bin men.
[i]john_drummer - Member
right. I'm off to BC. Any IT jobs in Vancouver? [/i]
I was in Vancouver in summer. The ambulance drivers were on strike. When I was there in 2006 the refuse collectors and other local government employees were on strike. Lots of uncollected refuse. The grass ain't always greener.
I've been told by a very reliable source that some bin men get paid £26,000 in Birmingham.
And? Which bimen are striking Hora?
I was just trying to add something 🙁
But left wing shyte nearly killed our car industry, knackered our mining industry and is about to do the same to postal and bin men.
You could make a very convincing argument that the right wing killed those industries:
Car industry: had to be nationalised after it had gone bust.
Coal industry: closed down by Thatcher for ideological reasons.
Clearly, it's more nuanced than that, but to claim it's all the fault of the left is tendentious at best.
I was in Vancouver in summer too. Yes the grass might not be greener, but it's a hell of a lot less crowded. TBH I'd prefer Canmore but I don't think there are too many programmer jobs there...
CHB ..... do you see the irony ?
The irony of saying : [i]"It is a mess what is being done to the bin men........Do I agree with cutting their pay? No."[/i]
Whilst making it absolutely crystal-clear that you don't support them.
And then, accusing other people of posting "shite".
Do you see the irony in that ?
Hora - they get £26k a year .... and ?????
they provide a vital service that is one of the essential cogs in the machine we call society - lose the cog the machine faults and eventualy fails. Why is not worthy of £26k ? their boss earns £200k plus and all the trimmings that go with it - an obscene amount that is far above what any one individual needs to survive.
CHB - Do I agree with cutting their pay? No. Freezing it maybe? Or even restructuring it so that they don't lose out and get the balance in bonuses.
this is the race to the bottom just not quite as fast as pay cuts - totally unacceptable
what we need to see is a more balanced society where the gap between the low and high paid is drastically reduced (yes i do hold strong left wing views evenb to the point of believing that everyone should be paid the same despite their job - but I also live in the real world and see the problems this would cause.)
increasing or in the case of the Leeds refuse workers , maintaining a decent standard salary , for the lower paid and capping the extortionate amounts that execs and the like are paid will deliver a far more bal;anced society and you can still hold on to your capitalist ethos.
let me ask you all to consider this
is it fair that a massive multi national company - say HSBC for example - is allowed to make billions , not millions , but billions of pounds/dollars profit each year yet still employ staff on poverty wages ? there are workers at corporations such as these that have not had pay rises for 10 or more years.
workers generating billions of pounds worth of profit for the shareholders etc. yet their salaries are so low that they have to claim income support and other benefits - benefits that come form your taxes and N.I.
unfortunately we live in a world run by greedy fat men who see profit before people
stAn retreats behind the barricades awaiting a sh#t load of abuse from middle england.
an important point to remember in all this is that the refuse workers in Leeds are not striking to get anything more they are seeking to retain what they already have. They are prepared to get back round the table and negotiate but not with the conditions imposed on them by the council
UP THE WORKERS !
For what its worth, its well known that being a bin man (certainly compared with equivalent manual jobs) is a cushy number. The salary, pension and hours worked are better than any equivalent private sector job
I await your detailed scientific research to back this claim up.
But left wing shyte nearly killed our car industry, knackered our mining industry and is about to do the same to postal and bin men
Oh hold on you have a Phd in political science then 🙄
Might be a job for you at the sun now they have flipped sides you seem to have all the insight they need.
£26k a year to empty bins! Insane. Sack them all and employ people that want a job so the council tax paying people of leeds get their bins emptied.
Blame thatcher........the ****ing witch.
free house at chez ton when she dies.................. 😉
Thatcher is a legend. "Soft touch" Tony is the person I blame.
Oh that provocation had a bigger effect than I expected. 😈
Actually, its all academic now, my bins were emptied this morning.
At least this will have increased recycling rates accross leeds. My green bins have never been used so much.
And they're back in negotiations now too, apparently
binmen worth £26K?
On what f***ing planet?
Essential service-yes but completely without skill and so cannot merit that salary.
binmen worth £26K?
Personally - I don't believe it, not for a 40 hr week anyway
It's just another "I once heard a reliable source say that blah, blah, blah"
Oh that provocation had a bigger effect than I expected. 😈
So you were being ironic on purpose then !!
Accusing others of talking shite whilst you yourself, talked [i]complete[/i] shite, was just you having a 'bit of a laugh' !!
Ho ho ho ............. you really had me fooled there for a while 
surely there's a conspiracy theory in here somewhere
tory council, northern england, looming election
Just read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/8278512.stm
Now the 20% inefficiency could be for a good reason, as to be fair the bin men of leeds do pick up stuff next to the bins and don't fine you if your lid is open 10mm.
BUT....
30 days sick per year on average!!!
That is ridiculous by any standards. Surely there is no private sector company that would tolerate that (or even be in business?).
Ernie, wasn't being ironic on purpose.
What started as a thread about binmen turned into a mini episode of communist worker, so I thought since rational discussion was lacking I would engage in a bit of extremist baiting.
Leeds City Council has attacked its bin service as "inefficient", as a strike by refuse workers enters its fourth week.The authority said overall collection rates were 20% less efficient compared with the average council.
How bizarre that a council should wish to publicly attack it's own bin service. Since everyone apparently agrees that to be a bin man, you need to have no special skills or talents, we can presumably assume that the only difference between the 'efficiency' of refuse collection in Leeds, and the 'efficiency' of refuse collection in other councils, is down to management.
Lets hope that Leeds voters take heed of this amazing admission by the council, and that next election this shower of self-confessed incompetents, are thrown out.
That is ridiculous by any standards.
Is that a serious comment CHB ?...... or another one of your amusing "provocations" as you call them....... you little teaser you 😉
read all this, and it is far too politicaland deep for me.
one thing for sure is that the leeds bin men are the laziest set of barsteward i have ever seen working.
i would sack the lot of them and get a whole new bunch.
ton....ls26 resident.
Deadly serious, no trolling at all.
OK every company has people on long term sick. These bump up the average of any company.
But I know of no private company that would accept 30 days AVERAGE accross the workforce. Most companies acheive way under 10 days.
Now before you say ...ah but this is a manual job. Well if people are loosing days from work due to injuries then thats a RIDDOR and is a very serious matter.
Far more likely that 30 days has been tolerated and the staff take the pi$$.
oh bugger....I know your reply already!
Tolerated....aha thats the management to blame!
Yes it is. Sack them too (overpaid council idiots on ridiculous pensions) and get some private proper company in.
[admits to mild trolling in that last sentance].
In all seriousnes, I really would like to understand the detail of this issue.
Does anyone have links to the salary details, current and proposed, and any details on the proposed bonus scheme offered?
I would like my arguments to be based on accurate information.
Yeah,
privatise the service like my local in Calderdale - (sarcasm mode on) it's improved vastly since that happened (sarcasm mode off).
From the Local Govt Careers website:-
[i]
Entry Requirements
No academic qualifications are usually required for loaders and drivers. Loaders must usually be over 18 and drivers over 21. Drivers require the appropriate HGV driving licence. Supervisors often work their way up through the ranks, but it may be possible to start as a supervisor with four GCSEs/S grades (A-C/1-3) or equivalent.
Training is usually on-the-job and includes safety awareness, manual handling, health and safety, protective equipment, handling needles and customer service for loaders and drivers. Supervisors may work towards an HNC or NVQ/SVQ level 3 in waste management.
Estimated salary range
Salaries for full-time refuse loaders are likely to be between £11,000 and £17,000; for refuse drivers £15,000 to £20,000 and for supervisors £17,000 to £25,000.[/i]
Benefits would probably be nearly as much as those on the low end of the scale, perhaps we should be applauding them for turning up at all.
dangerous, thats a huge range 11 to 17 K ...I want details to understand the pay scales of these folk. That way I can make my own twisted assessment of whats fair.
Further googling shows London bin men to be on the higher rates but it includes 'contractual overtime payments' - no mention of how many hours overtime that is for though.
That way I can make my own twisted assessment of whats fair.
Well the Chief Executive of Leeds Council Paul Rogerson (the guy who makes decisions about cutting other people's wages) is on £191,467 a year - do you think that's fair ?
BTW, how do you think people who have been loaned money from banks, building societies etc, on the basis of their currant salaries, should deal with their wages being slashed ?
the tory leader of leeds council is on app.£200,000 a year - why don't we cost cut on his salary and benefits , no-one needs that amount of salary.
That didn't sound right, so I checked.
Turns out the council leader, even according to the GMB, earns £45,000 including allowances.
The chief executive, however, is on £190,000 - he is a council employee, not a political member of the council.
http://gmb.live.rss-hosting.co.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=98970
Politicians (LibDems at least) on the council think that these very high salaries for senior management in the council should be tackled:
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Leader-wants-council-top-staff.5653698.jp
Now, I wonder which party was running Leeds council when the chief exec was appointed?
Mind you, more useful jobs for society such as the marketing account executive for a plastic childrens toy company pays £40K plus car.
Who needs bins emptying when there's Chinese made plastic toys to be sold.
Yeah, but what I want to know is why LEEDS is almost alone in provoking its bin men to strike? Is it head stuck up ar$e bureaucrats that are provoking reasonable folk to strike? Or is it malingering, lazy binmen that expect pension, 30days sick and more pay than other folk in similar jobs?
[ok thats dramatised, and you have to ignore the point that its not their fault if they were allowed to get away with taking the piss...but hang on thats the excuse the MP's used!]
I really don't know who to support in this because I don't have the true, raw facts.
I know from when my brother went for a job (worked in an abertoir) that binmen were a cushy number in Leeds.
Lets please keep this thread non-inflamatory, until at least we can post some facts.
[i]30 days sick per year on average!!![/i]
"average" is a very average statistic. I was listening to BBC Radio Leeds this morning on my drive to work, and according to the union bloke there are at least 2 managers in the LCC refuse department that have been off sick with stress for over 6 months.
That's going to bump up the "average" somewhat, don't you think?
You should listen to your local radio station, it's very informative.
£200k for a council bureaucrat is ridiculous. Private companies can pay what the hell they like (or shareholders will accept).
BUT ...councils, BBC, Yorkshire Forward, NHS pay their top execs way too much and I have no problems with cutting this and getting more performance related pay for the grafters.
Dangerous...£40k for plastics. Well someone has to do the job. If the market collapses then he/she won't be employed.
CHB - as others pointed out already, councils that contracted out refuse collection (or dinner ladies) to private companies have avoided the issue of needing to equalise the pay of dinner ladies and bin men.