Service and should be run in-house

Nicholas Spivey
Dustmen - 1976Dustmen - 1976
Dustmen - 1976

Huddersfield, (refuse collection driver with 33 years service)

I would like to add a comment to the refuse collection service problems. I have 33 years service in refuse collection working for a neighbouring council. 

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The underlying factors why rounds are not completed is because the contractor or the in-house department suffer from underfunding.

Let's be honest, this is a service and should be run in-house by Sheffield city council. You cannot make a profit from something that does not produce anything.

Any recycling material that is sold on and burnable material that generates power is all provided by the residents who have already paid in rates for its removal, so any revenue generated from this belongs to the people of Sheffield and not shareholders.

Under privatisation in the public sector profit made is usually on the backs of the workforce being paid poorly and working in bad conditions with old equipment.

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Working on a refuse collection round is demanding, you cannot guarantee to complete rounds when you are working to full capacity when rounds exceed acceptable workloads.

There is no spare time for breakdowns and hitting heavy traffic, also the weight collected cannot be predicted so some days this exceeds normal weights which means an extra tip. There is a daily potential hazard for refuse collection vehicles to become overloaded by putting pressure on crews to do the unacceptable. This usually results in workers cutting corners with health and safety.

Privatisation has become a national disgrace. You only have to look at the transport infrastructure and the NHS. When will our political elite admit they are wrong?

When I was a child living in Sheffield in the 1970s pre-privatisation, I do not recall my parents complaining about missed dustbin collections.

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You only have to look up the road and see what has happened in Huddersfield with unmanageable workloads on refuse collection due to austerity resulting in a week-long strike.

Harold Macmillan, former Conservative prime minister, voiced his disapproval at Thatcher's policy of selling off public-owned services by saying it was selling the family silver, meaning you will never get it back.  How relevant these words are now.