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Outraged by Albert’s removal from his round? Contact the council and tell them what you think

Yesterday, Dylan wrote about the disgraceful way binman Albert Stewart has been treated by Ormskirk Council – moved from his route for picking up rubbish left beside bins, i.e. exercising a bit of common sense and doing his job well.

I've just written to the relevant Council Officer to express my displeasure, and I thought that you might wish to do so too:

Pat Burgess
Refuse and Recycling Manager
Tel: 01695 577177 ext.5432

[email protected]

By Alex Deane

**UPDATE**

The council has neglected to reply to my complaint, but is responding to that of others.  Supporters have kindly sent Big Brother Watch the council response, which is this:

Thank you for your concern. As you will appreciate,  I  am unable to speak about a private matter between the Council and one of its staff.  However, please do not believe what you read in the papers as Mr Stewart has not been sacked nor has he had any alterations made to his terms and conditions of employment. 

Hmm.  From conversations with people in the area, Big Brother Watch understands that what they did was punish him by stopping him from being on his route and allocating him willy-nilly on a day-by-day basis so he never knows where he's going or what he'll be doing. Moving someone's place of work – taking them away from the place they've known and loved for 30 years, where people know you and call out to you as you pass by, your friends, as Mr Stewart said himself - how's that for changing your terms and conditions?

Posted on January 8, 2010 by Big Brother Watch Posted in Home
  • Tidy bin

    Surely this is wasting Taxpayers money – I have a family of 4 and I can fit all my rubbish into a small wheelie bin no problem – I just recycle lots of bulky items like cardboard and the like.
    I feel for Albert – but their must be better ways to use his efforts?
    I say – if it’s not in the bin – leave it there – the people will soon learn not to put out so much rubbish.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/andrewallison Andrew Allison

    I sent off an e-mail of complaint this afternoon and publicised the case of the Hull and East Riding TPA blog.

  • Keith Armstrong

    The Local Council service that we are most aware of week by week is our rubbish collection. This does need to be done well so full marks, our thanks, and a medal for Albert.
    We are tired of paying twice for every service. We expect this one and all the others to be done properly. I too re-cycle everything I can. Producers of our goods could use a lot less packaging. That would reduce prices as well as rubbish.
    Keith Armstrong

  • William, Manchester

    TidyBin
    I’m delighted for you and your family of four. I note the self-righteous tone of your post with comments about your own output of rubbish. Congratulations. Of course, your output has no bearing whatsoever on other families.
    Your family of four is FAR smaller than many. Several of my neighbours have MUCH larger families and quite often fill all of their bins (recycling and general refuse).
    More often than not I see their general refuse bins packed to the point the lid won’t shut properly, the paper/card recycling completely packed full (to the point the binmen are often heard complaining and swearing quite openly as they carry them to the truck) and the plastic/glass bin pretty much full too. If there’s a late collection, a party or sometimes just a normal week that means extra bags.
    What would you suggest they do with the rest?
    When binmen (sorry, I won’t use whatever PC job title they have now – binmen will do) leave extra rubbish behind, and they often do, it just makes a complete mess.
    Not forgetting that they rarely bother cleaning up after them when they spill the contents of a bin or the paper bag onto the pavement.
    Maybe you’d suggest fly tipping?
    Or should they load their kids up with a bag each and march them a couple of miles to the nearest tip?
    Attitudes like yours, saying “don’t put out so much rubbish” are incredibly short sighted, and part of the reason the idiots who make decisions about refuse collection come up with moronic ideas like fortnightly collections, charging and so on.
    Many people recycle all they can and STILL need extra bags.
    I say if it’s not in the bin and you leave it there, the fly tipping so evident in secluded corners and the mess left behind dust carts will only get worse.
    Try to think about the real world a bit more before you spout off drivel like that again.

  • Alan

    This has been sent to the local Parish on behalf of Albert
    To The Proper Clerk to the Council, Aughton Parish Council
    To The Chairman, Aughton Parish Council
    I am writing on behalf of a large number of parishioners who would have attended the Parish Council meeting tonight, which is now cancelled due to inclement weather. All of those intending to be present at the meeting, in excess of 30 residents and parishioners, wanted to speak on behalf of Albert Stewart, who many of us have known as our refuse collector and friend for many years. In the case of Mr Doug Tate 33 years, in my own case 27 years, and so many others, all in excess of 20 years, we all appreciate what Albert Stewart did to help us, over and above his his normal duties. Albert was our ears and eyes for the elderly and infirm in this community. Nothing was too much trouble for him. In the days before the introduction of EU Directives which no resident of this parish ever had a vote on but which have forced wheelie bins onto our streets, refuse collectors were a part of our community. It seems this is no longer a part of the service for which we pay our council tax. Albert Stewart has apparently paid the price for this new and unacceptable practice.
    Having had discussions with many of the local residents I have been asked to propose a motion to Aughton Parish Council as follows;
    That Aughton Parish Council, on behalf of all parishioners, wishes to formally thank Albert Stewart for his loyal and exemplary service to residents of the Parish; and that Aughton Parish Council accepts the wishes of residents of the Parish and seeks to reinstate Albert Stewart to his work in the Parish; and that Aughton Parish Council, on behalf of all parishioners, will nominate Albert Stewart for the award of an MBE in recognition of the part he has played in our community, for the positive difference he made in our community, and that he exemplified selfless service to Aughton Parish.
    We ask that this motion be considered at the next Parish Council Meeting.

  • eileen pohl

    our binmen are bone idle,beside our refuse
    bags we were issued with a small handle bin
    to put food waste,they only have to put the
    bin back on our drive where it is collected
    from,(where the drive joins the pavement)but
    that is too far for them,they choose to put it either in the middle of the pavement where a blind person could fall over it or at the kerb edge where it could be kicked into the road,which ever of the two it could
    cost the council thousands in compensation.
    also they generaly leave our food waste bin
    half full even though we put paper in the bottom of it before starting to fill it,all
    our complaints to the council have fallen on
    deaf ears,we will put it out once more tonight and if it finishes up half full again our food waste will go into our black bags that are destined for the landfill,as these binmen and the council dont give us any encouragement whatsoever,but had the audacity to take a man to court just because
    he put one envelope in his glass recycle bag.

  • alan broomhead

    the person who removed albert should be removed themself,this government makes these
    draconian laws by having people fined and yet because a conciensous man takes pride in
    his work some pratt releives him of his round,so this shows what kind of a binman he would make.there are too many left wingers and ex commies in power today bringing all these draconian laws both in
    local and central government,they are only in power because they are voted in.they dont
    live like their beleifs though.with all this
    pc crap i am disgusted with them all,what they need is a good days work and moderate pay.

  • Mike Stallard

    “And all the easy speeches that comfort cruel men…..”

  • Don Smith

    A disgusting decision and I feel that all the Councils unions should show full solidarity in this case. How petty and how childish.

  • http://Sky.com Derek Green

    I feel so sorry for Albert. This is yet another example of the institutionalised bullying that seems rife in the public sector now, people trying to make names for themselves by stabbing honest, loyal workers in the back. Tha amazing thing is that they all have anti-bullying policies, but they never stick when applied to the management.

  • Ian Harris

    I agree – but councils who act like this are acting in fear of Gordon Brown and the EU’s bin taxes. We have plenty of landfill, but Belgium does n’t – so fines are levied for too much waste going to landfill. But Councils need n’t behave like this – our bins are emptied weekly, and if anything won’t go in, they take it anyway. Wheelie bins are not obligatory. The self-righteous prat obviously does n’t have to cope with non-crushable plastic food packaging -that’s what takes up the space!

  • James F Murphy

    Keep up the good work Albert I am sure that 99% of the locals and the whole of the U.K applaude your work ethics Stick 2 fingers up to the Ormskirs Council