Trade union members held a protest outside Cardiff's County Hall over allegations of bullying and the treatment of staff in the city's refuse collection department.
Refuse collectors have complained about supervisors shouting, being dismissive, and bullying, and some staff say they are stressed at work. They are also angry at the treatment of agency staff asked to turn up in the morning to find out if there is work.
Members of the Unite trade union in Lamby Way held a demonstration outside County Hall on Tuesday, February 8, and could soon vote on whether to take industrial action.
However, these allegations have been strongly denied by both the council and the GMB trade union, which also represents staff in the department.
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Unite recently surveyed its members in the waste collection department, finding “devastating” levels of workplace stress and bullying. The union claimed several grievances have been put forward which the council has not investigated, a claim the council denies.
According to the survey, more than 60 per cent of workers have witnessed or experienced workplace bullying; 90 per cent have felt stressed due to work over the last year; more than a third had been off sick due to work-related stress over the last year; and 65 per cent felt they couldn't do their job safely.
Ruth Hydon, Unite regional officer, said: “Our survey of Cardiff council recycling workers is a devastating indictment of a working environment blighted by high levels of stress and workplace bullying. Our members worked throughout the pandemic, for little reward. The culture within the waste services department is unsafe and toxic—it has to change.
“The culture of bullying is exacerbated by high levels of long-term agency workers in the service who are too fearful to speak up in case they are not given work. Many agency workers have worked for the council for four or five years, some for as long as 15 years. Why doesn’t the council offer them permanent contracts?
“Our members have had enough. If urgent action is not taken by the leadership of Cardiff council to address our concerns, then Unite will have no option but to escalate this dispute.”
However, according to the council only a 10th of staff took part in the survey, the details of which haven’t been shared with council bosses. The council employs the equivalent of 567 full-time employees in Lamby Way, and more than 600 staff including agency workers. Also, the council has said no evidence of bullying or safety concerns have been brought forward.
A council spokesperson said: “The council has met with Unite on these claims and has asked the union on several occasions to bring forward any evidence of bullying or health and safety concerns which can be investigated properly. So far they have failed to do so.
“We are yet to see the details of the survey—although we understand only around one 10th of the workforce in the department took part. Nonetheless, we are keen to see the details and to investigate any evidence brought before us.
“The council is surprised by Unite’s overall assessment as it runs counter to what the other trade unions—GMB and Unison—have told us in discussions. We take all allegations of bullying seriously, and will always work with trade unions when they bring forward specific allegations to investigate.”
Over the past couple of years the waste department has seen big changes, with a switch to a four-day week and collection days changing for thousands of homes in Cardiff. This switch initially caused major problems with missed collections, although in recent months the issue seems to have been resolved. The pandemic has also caused problems with staff shortages.
One refuse worker, who asked not to be named, raised specific concerns including crews crossing busy roads often and agency staff treated like dock workers in the 1960s.
They said: “Over the past two years it’s got really bad, the way supervisors and managers are abusive to staff. If there are any complaints, they just ignore them. They don’t want to listen to what you have to say, they just say get on and do it. A lot of staff feel like they can’t do the work safely.”
They claimed the new four-day schedule introduced early last year led to crews being given heavy workloads and encouraged to carry out unsafe working practices, such as last March when one manager allegedly pressured crews to collect from both sides of busy roads at once, crossing the road repeatedly.
They said: “When you do a main road, like Cyncoed Road or Cowbridge Road, it should be up one side and down the other. Otherwise if you keep crossing the road, you could get hit [by a car].”
A council spokesperson disputed this, saying: “This is not correct. We have route risk assessments on all roads from which we collect, detailing if a road is single or double sided collection. Crews can query if information they have been provided is correct, and when we have queries a review is carried out. The route risk assessment is uploaded onto their 'in-cabs' and must be followed at all times.”
Other concerns of the refuse worker included bad treatment of agency workers, some who have worked at Lamby Way for several years. This was disputed by both GMB and the council, who said more than 50 agency workers have been given full time positions in the past two years.
Another concerning practice the worker mentioned was ‘spare days’, when agency workers travel into Lamby Way without knowing if there will be work for them that day. If another worker is off sick, then these spare day workers will be asked to cover that absence. But if there aren’t a lot of absences, some agency workers end up with little pay for that day and get sent back home shortly after.
“They ask you to come in but you’re not guaranteed any work,” the refuse worker said. “They say if someone doesn’t come into work, then you can take his place and we’ll pay you. But if we can’t use you, you can go home and we’ll pay you for two hours. It’s like going back to the docks in the 60s. It’s easy to use and abuse agency workers, it’s disgusting.”
The council said the service books agency staff on a stand-by basis, to cover any potential absences. A spokesperson said: “This is clearly stated when booking agency staff, and if they’re not required that morning, they’re informed and receive two hours pay.
“The agency will be aware of this by 6am, and has the opportunity to find an alternative placement for that member of staff. The nature of our agency requirement is to cover sickness and holidays, so there is a degree of flexibility required and the agency providers are fully aware of this.”
One disputed issue is how many staff each union represents, with some claiming that many supervisors and managers in the department are in GMB, while the drivers and crews tend to be in Unite instead. GMB denied this and said its membership was "by far" the largest. Figures on trade union membership are strictly confidential, so the true picture is unclear.
Ruth Brady, regional secretary for GMB Wales and South West, said: “GMB is the largest union in Cardiff’s waste services, representing members across all levels of the service. The idea being peddled that there is a conflict of interest for us as a union is plain and simply wrong.
"GMB has contacted all our members in waste services and we have received zero allegations of bullying and harassment at Lamby Way or any other workplace in the service. If any GMB member feels they have been the victim of bullying or harassment, they should get in touch immediately and we will protect them and take them through the appropriate process.
“GMB has a record second-to-none of defending our members in Cardiff council. To date we are unaware of any complaints of bullying and harassment being raised through the official channels with the council, including the council’s health and safety forum which is attended by the joint unions recognised at Cardiff council.
“We strongly urge Unite to raise and substantiate these claims through the official internal disputes procedures, where of course as a sister union we would stand in solidarity with them.”
Another staff member at Lamby Way gave a different view of the working environment there. Keith Matthew, an HGV driver and GMB rep, said bullying would not be tolerated in the department, and any recent allegations have been overblown.
He said: “These allegations of bullying are absolute rubbish, there’s no more I can say about it. I have had nobody come to me within the last two or three years with bullying allegations. I wouldn’t tolerate any bullying down there. If it does go on, it’s rapidly dealt with, no question about it.
“We have some people who aren’t happy because of the changes to the work schedule, and the fact they might have been put in a different vehicle. But some allegations have been withdrawn by Unite members. I think there’s a bit of political play going on, pushing people to make allegations.”
The council said that processes were in place to deal with any claims of bullying, and added that many agency workers have recently been given full time jobs.
A council spokesperson said: “We have robust and long-standing processes in place that have been developed in partnership with our unions to [investigate bullying allegations]. All the unions know we take a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, and the health and safety of our staff is a priority for us.
“In terms of agency workers, this council does its level best to support our agency staff appropriately and has demonstrated this clearly during the pandemic. The current political administration has pushed to see agency jobs converted into full-time positions, and good progress has been made, with 56 agency positions converted into permanent posts.
“The overwhelming majority of these took place since 2019. We have also run recruitment events specifically targeting agency workers, where an expression of interest guaranteed an interview. We will continue to work to convert more agency posts to permanent positions in line with our agreed recruitment and selection policy.”
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