Rubbish collectors work to rule

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33650, 27 September 1974, Page 12

Rubbish collectors work to rule

Christchurch City Council rubbish collectors are working to rule in protest against the reorganisation of rubbish collections which reduced the number of trucks and made the rounds longer.

The City Engineer (Mr P. G. Scoular) said yesterday that the work-to-rule would not cause any disruption to rubbish collections. The collectors usually work at the run so that they can finish early, and many miss lunch and shower breaks. Working to rule will mean that the men will walk instead of run and that they will take time off for the breaks they are entitled to. The rubbish collectors say that the rounds previously took eight hours work. Now, they cannot be done in that time.

Mr Scoular said that two or three of the nine rounds done in Avonside yesterday were “not quite” finished, though he did not know why. They would be completed by another truck today.

He had not been informed of any work-to-rule, Mr Scoular said, though he had met the men at a union meeting earlier this week. “They are entitled to the breaks. I do not foresee any disruptions at all to rubbish collections,” he said. The change in rubbish rounds started on September 16 and was said by the

council to result from the switch to bags. Nine trucks, instead of the usual 13 or 14, were put on the rounds, and 12 men were transferred to other jobs.