Refuse collection overtime a legacy issue, says Govt

The Government says the overtime of refuse collectors reflects longstanding contractual agreements introduced more than 20 years ago.

The recently published Principal Auditor’s Report for 2018-19 found that refuse collectors are paid for far more hours than they actually work and earn twice as much as their UK counterparts. Tony Sacramento described the level of overtime as “exceedingly high”.

The Office of the Chief Minister says the legacy system he inherited included a 74-hour week and a “finish and go” agreement. It recognises these resulted in overtime levels which are “difficult to justify”, and which “were allowed to persist for too long”.

CM: report "highlights legitimate concerns" but refuse collectors do "very hard job" 

It says successive Chief Executives of the Department of the Environment and Ministers have tried to modernise practices but have met strong union resistance. Unite, which represents the Gibraltar Industrial Cleaners, are said to have threatened industrial action that the Government says “would have put public health at risk”.

Fabian Picardo says the audit report “highlights some legitimate concerns, but… fails to recognise the operational realities of delivering public services and the progress already made”.

He said “refuse collectors do a very hard and essential job that many do not wish to do for whatever money they might be paid”.

How much does new agreement improve the situation?

The Chief Minister said an agreement reached in March with Gibraltar Industrial Cleaners introduces “a new transparent pay structure”.

The Government says the new agreement for the refuse collectors:

- eliminates additional collection runs that were remunerated as full shifts;

- reduces the collection routes from five to four;

- adds a new evening collection schedule (8:00pm–11:00pm), replacing early-morning

collections;

- removes five working public holidays to reduce excess overtime;

- removes vacant posts through a restructured staffing complement;

- introduces a non-pensionable allowance model to contain long-term structural cost inflation, and;

- makes other roles outside the department obsolete as a result of efficiencies.

Chief Secretary Glendon Martinez said the reform shows systems can be modernised “when government, management and the unions work together in good faith”.

Mr Picardo said “we will continue working to ensure that public money is used wisely”.

The Government statement is silent on whether the workers will continue to be paid for more hours than they work.

It says the new arrangement introduced in March should achieve projected annual savings of £685,000.

Last year, overtime costs reached £1.1m. Savings of £685,000 suggest a projected overtime bill for refuse collectors this year of £415,000.

Unite the union response

Meanwhile, Unite the union has confirmed that the 'Finish and Go' system for refuse collectors has remained in place, following the March agreement. 

Under this system previously, workers completed their daily runs in as little as two hours but are still paid for ten and a half hours

However, Unite says their hourly pay has not gone up as part of the agreement. 

When asked what the union has to say to public sector members who feel disheartened by what the refuse collectors have been taking home. 

Unite's Christian Duo told GBC he's been looking after the GIC for two years and his primary role is to protect members terms and conditions. He describes the job as a big challenge as the government wanted to improve the service and make it more cost effective, under the agreement.

He says the aim was to avoid privatisation to preserve quality public sector employment, for today's workforce and future generations.