Cardiff binmen and women have voted to strike as part of a dispute into alleged "widespread bullying" within the Cardiff City Council Waste Services. Following an industrial action ballot, Unite members voted by a majority of 98 per cent to take industrial action.
Unite members employed by Cardiff City Council have said that they will start a six-week continuous strike from April 22. They say the action is set to "cause widespread disruption to the city’s refuse and recycling collections". The union also claims that a recent survey of Unite members working within waste services found that more than 60 per cent of workers have either witnessed alleged workplace bullying or had been bullied themselves.
In February, 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. A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: “In recent weeks, the Council has been engaging in constructive discussions with senior officials of Unite Cymru and we will continue to work with them to resolve this dispute with the support of the other trade unions representing the Council’s workforce.
“We take all allegations of bullying seriously and will always work with trade unions when they bring forward specific allegations to investigate. We have robust and long-standing processes in place that have been developed in partnership with our unions – to do just that. 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.”
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Unite said it has raised a number of other issues with the council which are said to "stem from the bullying culture". They claim this includes "health and safety failings, misuse of agency labour and unfair targeting of Unite union reps."
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Workers at Cardiff Council have had enough of the toxic workplace bullying. Unless the council urgently resolve our grievances then six weeks of strike action will start in just nine days’ time. Our members are completely united and determined to win this fight for justice and they will receive the full support of Unite during the strike.”
Unite regional secretary Peter Hughes commented: “We have tried to resolve this dispute through negotiations with the council but have hit a brick wall. Although it is not too late to find a resolution, time is quickly running out. We have an overwhelming mandate for strike action and our members are determined to force change within Cardiff’s waste services department. This strike will unfortunately see major disruption to the refuse collections of Cardiff’s residents. However, the blame for this will lie squarely at the door of Cardiff City Council.” To keep up to date with stories from across Cardiff subscribe to our daily newsletter here.
