Saved – bin workers’ tips

There are jobs that are important – which everyone recognises – and they rightly get the pay and social esteem they deserve.

Then there are workers whom none of us could live without, but their work is in many ways thankless.

Refuse collection is one such job – the hours for bin men and women are long, the pay is hardly just enough to get by, and, if for example your council has cut down on bin collections, you’re often blamed by the public for what’s not your fault.

Take for example, Derby City Council, which announced last week that there would be no domestic waste or recycling collections over the festive period, from December 23 to January 3.

While many people complained, the wife of a refuse collector, Nicole Windsor, commented on an article on the Telegraph’s Facebook page, explaining why they were wrong to be so upset.

“Most of you forget it’s not the actual binmen who make this decision,” she said. “However, I’m grateful that my husband gets time off over Christmas so we can make it magical and create lots of memories for our kids.”

“Because, let’s face it, no child wants to grow up and just say, ‘we didn’t really do much because mum and dad were always at work’.”

While Windsor received a warm response from many readers, and many thanked her husband for the work he does, refuse collectors in Aylesbury were this week under threat of missing out on some much needed Christmas cheer.

It was reported earlier this week that Aylesbury Vale District council would restrict staff from receiving Christmas tips. 

Councillor Howard Mordue, cabinet member for finance, resources and compliance, noted that although “we appreciate that customers sometimes like to express their gratitude to our hard working teams, our policy only allows employees to accept low value modest items.”

“In the past customers have been generous in offering mince pies, cakes or biscuits that can be shared with colleagues, and these have generally been accepted as appropriate,” he said.

“It is important to us that our customers trust our employees to act with the highest degree of integrity, and therefore, if we become aware of an allegation that an employee has breached our code of conduct, we would normally investigate the matter, as a potential disciplinary issue.”

But Unite national officer for local authorities Fiona Farmer stepped in and condemned the move.

Misguided edict

“The bosses at Aylesbury Vale District Council are being mean-spirited and Scrooge-like in this misguided edict – it should be rescinded immediately,” she said.

“If the residents of Aylesbury wish to give the refuse collectors, who are out in all weathers collecting their waste, a small token of appreciation that should be allowed – this is not high scale bribery and back handers, but an act of recognition of a job well-done 365 days a year.

“The councillors need to take a history lesson, as in Britain it has been the long-standing custom for tradespeople to collect ‘Christmas boxes’ of presents on the first weekday after Christmas as a ‘thank you’ for good service throughout the year,” Farmer added.

“This custom stretches back centuries and was mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ diary in December 1663.”

Farmer explained to UNITElive the tremendous pressure refuse collectors are under.

“Most of them earn just above the minimum wage, which amounts to £14,000 to £15,000 a year,” she explained. “The very nature of their job is extremely hazardous. They’re exposed to all sorts of waste that can be bad for their health. They deal with sharp objects when collecting waste.

“They’re often subject to abuse from the public,” she added. “If for example they’ve parked out on the street, or they pile up bags to make it easier to collect or if they refuse to empty a bin because it’s been incorrectly sorted they get all manner of abuse.

“Least of all, they’re out in all weather conditions and have the added pressure of time because of traffic and so on.”

Farmer noted Christmas is an especially tough time of year.

“Often councils don’t collect rubbish at certain times during the festive season – for example, on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. So refuse collectors have the added stress of cramming more days in before and after the festive period.

“People also have more waste during Christmas. There’s more food waste and waste from gifts.”

U-turn

Not long after Farmer’s intervention over Aylesbury’s Scrooge-like stance on tips for refuse collectors, council leader Neil Blake took a U-turn on the council’s earlier stance. 

“We feel this has been blown out of proportion,” he said. “Our crews work all year round ,in all weathers and, having been out with them, I know first-hand the amount of effort that they put in.

“It’s understandable, therefore, that some residents would want to recognise that effort by giving them a small token of appreciation at this time of year,” he noted.

“I’d like to reassure everyone that there will be no disciplinary action as a result these small tokens of gratitude being accepted. Our policy on gifts and hospitality applies to staff at every level, and is more about larger gifts or where there’s a suggestion that gifts are given in return for favours.”

But Farmer highlighted that other councils are taking a similar stance to Aylesbury Vale District Council’s policy.

“The code of conduct that some councils have applied in blanket fashion to all workers is absurd,” she said. “Of course it makes sense for those in planning and commission where they have influence over decisions that risks the possibility of bribery.”

“But no one objects to giving tips to hair dressers or waiters,” Farmer argued. “In the same way, no one could possibly object to giving refuse collectors Christmas thanks through a bit of extra money or mince pies and other small gifts.”

Unite is at the forefront of standing up for refuse collectors whose work is absolutely essential.

For example, in one major campaign, Unite is working with managers at the company Veolia to ensure bin men and women are respected at work. Unite also campaigns on health and safety issues to ensure refuse collectors wear proper health and safety equipment. The union likewise supports them wearing body cameras.

“Our support of body cameras is not so that workers are under surveillance but because if there’s an incident at work — for example, one that involves abuse — there’s external evidence that can support them,” Farmer explained.

Unite encourages everyone to express appreciation for hardworking refuse collectors and other local authority workers who provide invaluable services in whichever way they choose over the festive season and throughout the year.

But most importantly we urge everyone to stand up against austerity cuts to local services — the IFS estimates that between 2015 and 2019, an astounding half a million public sector jobs are set to go, in addition to the 375,000 that have haemorrhaged since 2010, when austerity first began.

What’s more, local authority workers, already among the least paid in the country, have suffered under a cruel public sector pay freeze for years, amounting to a 17 per cent slash in take home pay in real terms, which has pushed many into poverty.

Find out more about our Fair Deal for Local Government campaign here.

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