If you're interested in supporting the Refuse workers that are facing a 20 - 30% wage cut then please read on.

As opposed to those poor souls who currently are/are about to find themselves with no job at all?

Yes, I agree taking a pay cut is not ideal but thats the current climate the UK and majority of Europe finds itself in.

Could you lose a third of your pay and continue to pay the bills?

The politics of this is quite interesting but would probably not be allowed on here.

Other Councils have had this problem to deal with and have gone about it in a totally different manner than the Tories & Lib Dems in Leeds and have found solutions to the problem that all parties can agree with.

Ask yourself why Leeds seem unable to follow suit.

All councils have cuts to make, it just depends which department they choose to cut

I've lost exactly a half of our household income this year and we're managing - just.

Theres nothing wrong with discussing the politics of the issue here, I'm quite fascinated by the shenanigans over the past few weeks and think theres been a lot of posturing on both sides, a couple of points that have been extracted ...

1. The department seems to have an extremely high rate of sickness absence, an average of 30 days per year per employee was the figure mentioned and then not denied by the union, it was suggested by the employer that most of the absences were due to the four day rosters where you could ring in sick one day and I would be called in on my fifth day off to be paid overtime to cover you, I'd then reverse the favour next month. Again this has never been denied and IMO reflects badly on both union and management.

2. Approx five years ago the department was classified as "not offering value for money to the taxpayer" by an audit commission survey and had there licence to collect trade waste revoked. Trade users like myself had to seek the likes of Biffa to collect our waste at that point, if it wasn't for that then the streets of central Leeds would be in a hell of a state by now - again this is an issue that has never been publicly acknowledged in the arguments as it reflects badly on both sides.


But please feel free to debate.

I'd go to this event but guess it would be a load of rubbish.

My income has redcued significantly this tax year to last and I am getting by. Mind yuo, it did go through the roof the other year.

BOOM BOOM

We've lost a good chunk of our income.

September last year the company didn't pay commission for a month to help with cash flow - means I'm still owed about £500 take home pay 13 months on.

In March this year they halved the commission and bonus payments. The impact of that has varied month to month between losing £300 off the monthly take home and over £1000, typically about £500.

In June, July & September we also were encouraged to 'volunteer' for a 7.5% temporary pay cut from the basic too.

On top of this we've been paid 10 days late one month and had expenses payments pushed back by 2 weeks every month since April. They cost me over £200 in charges for late payments.

I sold alot of stuff recently to help us catch up on our payments (and buy me a bike with the left overs) and things have looked good for a couple of weeks and moving forward.

Then today I got an email to say the pay date is being pushed back, with immediate effect, by 2 weeks i.e. after the various direct debit dates. I've spoken to the bank and they refuse to move the mortgage date or provide a payment holiday - the only option they'll offer is to recapitalise a month's payment (increasing interest and badly effecting our credit rating). On top of that the missus called to say her salary is being cut by 10% from December.

I can't remember the last time I had a day off sick. Certainly not for at least 2 years. I do know that when my employer chops my income I don't get protected for 3 minutes let alone 3 years.

On top of this the bins are full, and the bin bags are piling up by the door. I do have some sympathy with the bin men's cause but I also belive there's a little more to it then the union might (understandably) wish to portray.

I guess my sympathy is a little more limited nowadays than it might previously have been.

Are these the same people who work from 0730hrs (I believe this is the earliest they can begin leaving for the streets. To approx Midday? But still draw a wage for 37.5hrs a week?

I dont know who you work for but that sounds decidedly dodgy in terms of the way they operate their business, moving pay dates?

Commission & bonus are extras and, a bit like overtime, should never be relied on as always being there.



Still not as bad as a cut from £18000 down to £12000



I assume you're in a non-union business.



Have you still got your house? Some of the Refuse Workers may lose theirs.




How many employees are there ? Over a certain size they have to have a Consultation Forum and this should have been discussed there.



sounds like you've got a e employer - I bet the senior mangement aren't facing the cuts etc.

Not sure with payment dates titch. I know they can't touch your basic without formal agreement but bonus and commission schemes can be shot down at will.

Problem for me vs others in the company is that a reasonable proportion of my pay is commission. There are plenty of others who are completely unaffected by changes there so the burden is heavier here.

Difficulty is that you don't want to rock the boat - I'd rather be paid less than nothing - so even 'voluntary' requests for further cuts (when you might feel you're already being hit very hard) tend to be complied with.

I used to work with a lad whose wife was one of the admin staff for LCC Refuse Dept. Apparently they kicked off big style if they'd not cleared their rounds by 2:00pm and on their merry way home.

I've not had a bonus this year and also a pay freeze (which in relative terms is a pay cut although my income hasn't physically been cut), but in this economic climate I thank myself lucky to be going to work at all.

My company made 30 redundancies in the last 12 months.

The last thing that I would do would be to rock the boat.

Take the cut and thank God that you've got a job

Citizen John eh?

I lost all respect for the binmen when they refused to empty my€ wheelie bin due to it being overfull (the lid was ajar by approx 1"icon_wink.gif.

The reason it was full is becasue they hadn't collected it the week before!!!

Therefore my opinion is this, pay them 12k/year and give them a performance pay related kicker with KPI's in place to minimise sickness, improve collection efficiency and generally get some accountability in place.