Fingal to withdraw from the waste collection business by the end of the year

[asset test]

SDCC have outsourced to Greyhound. But there are other competitors, however the t+cs of all of them result in the same charges more or less.

The one problem I have with Greyhound is the 20kg free on the black bin + 23c or something per kilo. How do I know what my bin weighs when they pick it up? Unless I put the bloody thing on a weighing scales before I put it out! Recipe for overcharging on the sly maybe (not in the mood for litigation here....). Or indeed how do I know that someone will put their rubbish in my bin when passing by?

Get a lock I suppose. More loot to spend.

Hey ho. Privatisation is good......

[Vote_No_on_Everything]

Why does a local authority need to be involved in waste collection, this is a prime candidate for outsourcing.

Because the private operators pay minimum wage, expect workers to work 12 hour shifts with no tea breaks, and discard them as soon as they show any signs of injury or exhaustion. Also many of the private operators will only employ foreign slaves through a slave merchant agency with no sick pay, no workers rights.

I saw a guy on my road collecting bins for a large private waste collector with a dirty blood stained rag wrapped around his arm where he obviously caught it in the mechanism on the back of the bin truck, he was dripping dots of blood on the concrete which our dog was licking up, my woman offered to bandage it for him, he said he hadn't time as he would loose his job if he stopped to bandage it, he ran on after the truck.

Prison Planet comes to Dublin.

[asset test]

Because the private operators pay minimum wage, expect workers to work 12 hour shifts with no tea breaks, and discard them as soon as they show any signs of injury or exhaustion. Also many of the private operators will only employ foreign slaves through a slave merchant agency with no sick pay, no workers rights.

I saw a guy on my road collecting bins for a large private waste collector with a dirty blood stained rag wrapped around his arm where he obviously caught it in the mechanism on the back of the bin truck, he was dripping dots of blood on the concrete which our dog was licking up, my woman offered to bandage it for him, he said he hadn't time as he would loose his job if he stopped to bandage it, he ran on after the truck.

Prison Planet comes to Dublin.

What about Health and Safety legislation? Or are these outfits immune? Have these workers no avenue of complaint? No inspectors either? Sorry for all the Question marks.

[Didimus]

What about Health and Safety legislation? Or are these outfits immune? Have these workers no avenue of complaint? No inspectors either? Sorry for all the Question marks.

The only academic study I can find on the privitization of waste collection in Ireland is this:
http://www.esr.ie/vol31_2/2Reeves.pdf

"The evidence gathered from structured interviews with Irish local authorities for this study indicates that savings were derived from a number of sources. In all contracting authorities examined, interviewees suggested that lower costs incurred by private contractors were partly attributable to more flexible work practices (e.g. smaller crew sizes). While these do represent real productivity gains, some cases reported the existence of poorer working conditions in the private sector (e.g. lower health and safety standards and the employment of underage labour). The latter sources of cost savings have obvious redistributiveconsequences and reduce the extent to which measured cost savings improve overall economic welfare.
It is important to note that cost savings arising from contracting refuse collection services did not necessarily lead to a reduction in overall local government expenditure. In most cases, contracting authorities re-deployed all the relevant
direct labour following contracting."
The system in place to enforce labour standards is so over-stretched that abuse will occur.

[Mister men]

Because the private operators pay minimum wage, expect workers to work 12 hour shifts with no tea breaks, and discard them as soon as they show any signs of injury or exhaustion. Also many of the private operators will only employ foreign slaves through a slave merchant agency with no sick pay, no workers rights.

I saw a guy on my road collecting bins for a large private waste collector with a dirty blood stained rag wrapped around his arm where he obviously caught it in the mechanism on the back of the bin truck, he was dripping dots of blood on the concrete which our dog was licking up, my woman offered to bandage it for him, he said he hadn't time as he would loose his job if he stopped to bandage it, he ran on after the truck.

Prison Planet comes to Dublin.

Exploitation of cheap eastern european labour is rampant in the jobs market at present. I know of one company paying it's workers minimum wage and expecting them to work 75 hours a week but only paying them for 40. And yes i have reported the employer but this is going back as far as last November and yet still the practice within the company presists.

[Vote_No_on_Everything]

What about Health and Safety legislation? Or are these outfits immune? Have these workers no avenue of complaint? No inspectors either? Sorry for all the Question marks.

From what I gather the private waste operators use private slave merchant agencies who provide them with a 'conveyor belt' of recent immigrants who are insecure and some have poor english, though some have good english. These workers live a work-sleep semi depressed lifestyle and have neither the energy, language, education or time to learn about their work & health & safety rights in Ireland. When a worker starts to question his conditions or complain about sholder and back injuries the slave merchant agency is told to drop him and send in a newer slave. There seems to be an endless conveyor of new slaves coming & injured slaves leaving in this industry.
I only have second hand information on this from a nurse who treated injuries which a company would not pay for.

[asset test]

And another thing... what happened to the Council binmen who were displaced by privatisation?

Were they redeployed within the Council? My guess is YES otherwise there probably would have been some industrial action.

If so, what are the savings for going private then.

[Catalpa]

Is there an alternative to using these exploiters to collect our bins in Fingal?

Surely it is possible to take waste to a central location and pay a fee there instead?

I know this can be done for plastics etc so it would nice to know if it could be done for other types too.

[making waves]

Is there an alternative to using these exploiters to collect our bins in Fingal?

This is a direct consequence of the decision of the government and local councils to charge for rubbish collection - private company undercuts council - council withdraws from providing service - private companies put up price of collection.

Make no mistake about it - from day one the purpose for charging for waste had nothing to do with environmental concerns and everything to do with privatising the service. This is demonstrated by the fact that the amount of waste being deposited in landfill has actually increased since privatisation. Furthermore, events in Limerick demonstrate the dangers of privatising the bin collection service - Mr. Binman is going into receivership and Limerick City Council has been forced to consider emergency measures to collect domestic rubbish. When the private sector prove incapable of doing the job the onus falls back on public services to bail them out.

This should serve as a warning about water charges. The purpose of introducing water charges has nothing to do with conserving water (than can be done with zero long-term costs by repairing the pipe network and installing grey water collection systems) and everything to do with privatising the water supply. If the government succeeds in charging for water and then privatisation, it will be an absolute disaster for working class people as charges increase and quality and reliability collapse as private companies rake in massive profits.