Wednesday - July 30, 2008

Dustmen refuse to empty ‘too-full’ bin - despite it overflowing because they were on strike.

Quite right too.  We’re union men and we’ll get paid regardless and the public can just go to hell.

All is normal here in the nanny state.  All together now folks.  S o m a - S o m a -

By James Tozer

Last updated at 12:05 PM on 30th July 2008

Overflow: Steve Walton has had no rubbish collection for almost three weeks
As the dustmen were striking on collection day, it was no surprise that by the next week Stephen Walton’s wheelie bin was full to bursting.

However, the father of four was taken aback when council staff returned to work - and wouldn’t collect his rubbish because the bin was too full.

The two- day walkout by refuse staff had prevented a collection planned for July 17.

So last Thursday, Mr Walton was looking forward to getting rid of the rubbish accumulating outside his home in Mirfield, Kirklees, West Yorkshire.

But when the binmen came round, they left his bin untouched - the only one in his street.

He called Kirklees Council to find out why, and was told that as the lid would not close, binmen were under orders not to empty it.

‘It’s ridiculous,’ the 37-year- old accountant said. ‘I completely admit that my bin lid wouldn’t shut properly, but that is purely because of the strike.’

Yesterday, three weeks’ worth of refuse was still piling up near his home. ‘It’s a mountain of rubbish - it’s probably 21/2ft clear of the rim now - and with all the hot weather we’re probably going to end up with rats,’ said Mr Walton, who lives with his wife Jane, also 37, and their children, Charlotte, 11, Laura, nine, Amy, seven, and 18-month- old Zachary.

‘There are a lot of us so we probably produce more waste than the average home, but that is not why the bin was overfilled.

‘It’s a total farce that the council workers can go on strike and then blame you for having too much rubbish. If they did what they are paid to do, then we wouldn’t be in this situation.’

Mr Walton, who pays £1,600 a year council tax, hopes the rubbish will be removed when the binmen return tomorrow for the usual weekly collection.

But Councillor Kath Pinnock, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, fears things will get worse before they got better.

‘I’d bet anything that there will be more people expecting to have their bins collected this week for the first time in a month only to be told theirs are too full as well,’ she said.

‘The council should have organised additional collections - it’s been a complete disaster.’

Many parts of the Kirklees area have fortnightly collections, and there alone, 20,000 homes could face going a month without a bin collection.

The council, like many authorities, does not empty wheelie bins if they are too full for the lid to close.

Officials say that the machinery at the back of dustcarts can become blocked if bins swing open while being unloaded.

But the Conservative-controlled council said it had agreed a deal with the striking workers’ unions to clear the backlog.

Under the arrangement, the bins were left until the next scheduled collection and there was the option that bags of rubbish left next to bins could be picked up during an extra collection at the weekend.

Although this would largely apply to householders with fortnightly collections, if Mr Walton had requested that extra rubbish bags be removed, it is thought he may have been able to take advantage of the extra collection.

However, Mr Walton said he had not been told of the policy. He would have placed extra rubbish in separate bags if he had known this, he added.

A council spokesman said: ‘The joint trade unions would not give any concessions for catching up missed wheeled bins due to strike action, hence we have not responded to any such requests.’

The Daily Mail’s Great Bin Revolt campaign has highlighted widespread public anger at the growing number of councils introducing fortnightly collections, ostensibly to increase recycling.

In April, Gareth Corkhill, 26, from Whitehaven, West Cumbria, was given a criminal record after the lid of his jam-packed wheelie bin was left 4in ajar.

http://tinyurl.com/6rmzpo

Posted by Drew458     on 07/30/2008 at 11:13 AM   
Filed Under: • Nanny State • UK • Unions-Labor •  
• Comments (0) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner