Beggs blasts overtimefor missed bin collections

Ald Roy Beggs was unhappy to learn at the monthly meeting on Monday that the missed collections may incur overtime payments.

Environmental services director Phillip Thompson had explained that the backlog would have to be dealt with outside normal operating times, but the UUP representative said he understood that when roads had proved impassable, crews had returned to the depot and “clocked off” at 10.30am.

“And now we are hearing that we may have to pay overtime to get the bins lifted in areas where they could not be collected,” he added.

Ald Beggs said: “I urge the officers to look in to this and where there is non-cooperation that it be brought to our attention because good employee relations work both ways.”

He was aware that “most staff” were fully cooperative, but he also felt there were some who would seek to “take advantage of the situation”.