Residents in West Dunbartonshire have been dealt another blow after the council announced further delays to brown bin collections scheduled for this week.
The move comes after West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) came under fire after cancelling its festive bin collections over what it described as “workforce resource challenges” after failing to convince waste collection workers to take on overtime shifts over the festive period.
In an update today (Wednesday), WDC said it is now facing difficulty collecting all brown food waste bins on time.
A spokesperson said: “Due to resources and the impact from icy conditions, we may not be able to collect brown bins with food waste at the scheduled time this week.
“We’re asking residents to keep their brown bins at the kerbside and these will be collected as soon as possible.
“We’re working hard to ensure those whose general waste and recycling collections were impacted over the festive period are uplifted as planned.
“Where resources allow, this week and next, we’re picking up excess waste which is placed in black bin bags alongside general waste bins in these areas. Please note these may be picked up separately to your bin collection.
“We’re sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience during this time.”
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Festive bin collections sparked fierce response from the GMB union representing waste collection workers, who said that council chiefs had been “repeatedly warned” that workers would refuse to work overtime shifts over Christmas and New Year in a row over pay.
Keir Greenaway, the GMB Scotland’s senior organiser in the public sector, said WDC wanted to save money by reclassifying up to five days of public holiday as normal leave next year when special rates of pay will not apply.
However, WDC denied that claim, with a spokesperson last month saying that it was agreed that one current public holiday day – the last Monday in September – would transfer to annual leave entitlement.
They added: “This followed extensive consultation with all trade unions including the GMB, as per our collective bargaining agreement, and employee feedback received via an online survey.”
The council had already slapped information leaflets on resident’s wheelie bins inn advance, advising them of amended collection dates over the festive period, before axing the collection completely.
The region’s recycling centres saw motorists facing lengthy queues and bins were left overflowing due to the festive bin schedule fiasco.
Cars could be seen forming a long queue and blocking Renton Road on Friday afternoon as many people tried to manage the growing bags of waste caused by the collection delays.