City council leaders have been accused of breaking promises to almost 200 workers transferred controversially to Bristol Waste after it emerged they now face redundancies, pay cuts and increased workloads. Furious trade union reps and opposition councillors say Bristol City Council has washed its hands of the 196 cleaners and security staff who moved over from the local authority to its waste company in 2021.
In an email seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, GMB union Avon & Wessex branch secretary Jeff Sutton has urged Labour mayor Marvin Rees and council bosses to “man up and admit a mistake was made and bring these services back to Bristol City Council”. Both the mayor’s office and the local authority have refused to comment while Bristol Waste says working patterns and shift structures need to be reviewed to help deliver the services more efficiently, so the business can compete more effectively for new contracts in tough economic times.
Widespread concerns were raised about the Tupe transfer of the then council employees when it was first proposed in January 2021, with the aim of saving taxpayers £2million over four years and then £900,000 annually. Cabinet approved the move two months later, with deputy mayor Cllr Craig Cheney (Labour, Hillfields) promising “no future redundancies and complete protection of contracted terms and conditions” throughout the initial four-year contract, while Mr Rees said the agreement provided a “real hard-and-fast safety net”.
