Plans to provide a wheelie bin system for Dublin city this year have suffered a severe setback. The corporation's refuse workers have rejected a compensation package worth up to £1,800 a year as inadequate. Dublin city is now the only local authority in the Republic without a wheelie bin system. The only consolation for householders is that the failure of unions and management to agree terms will probably mean the deferral of local service charges.
IMPACT assistant general secretary Mr Tom Brady said after yesterday's rejection of the compensation package by a margin of two to one that the city manager was planning to put proposals for service charges to the city council once agreement had been reached on the wheelie bins.
However the city's personnel manager, Mr Frank Kelly, said Mr Brady was being "disingenuous" in linking the introduction of service charges with agreement on the operation of wheelie bins.
Mr Kelly added that he was disappointed at the rejection of the proposals.
Workers rejected the package at a meeting in Liberty Hall yesterday. The main reason was that the switch to wheelie bins would lead to reduced manning levels on refuse trucks, longer working hours and would eliminate promotional outlets for other manual workers such as road sweepers.
The latter, who make up over two-thirds of the 620 workers involved, were only being offered a lump sum of £600 each to forgo the opportunity of promotion to the trucks. Mr Brady said Dublin city employed many manual workers in low-paid jobs who hoped eventually to graduate to refuse collection.
He also said the extra £35 a week on offer to the refuse collectors was not enough to compensate for reducing the collectors on each truck. At the same time he said his members accepted the new system was better.