Council slams waste worker pay cut

Some TOR2 staff's pay has been cut by up to a fifth

Torbay Council will ask the Government to step in after a contractor decided to cut pay for waste collection workers.

The GMB union criticised the decision by Kier Group to reduce pay to some staff at TOR2 which provides services in Torbay by up to a fifth as part of its response to coronavirus.

Now the council’s leader has stepped to the row and says it is “extremely disappointed” with the move and will be asking the Government to intervene.

Steve Darling said the council was continuing to pay the contractor which provides waste and recycling collection and other services for Torbay Council under an agreement.

TOR2 was set up by the council and majority shareholder Kier Group as a joint venture 10 years ago, but the council is due to take back services in-house in July when the contract ends. 

Kier Group is cutting wages for around a third of its 18,000 staff as part of its response to the economic slowdown caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, and says fewer than one in 10 of the TOR2 workforce in Torbay are affected by the temporary measure.

Cllr Darling said on Wednesday: “We are extremely disappointed in the decision by Kier Group to reduce some staff salaries including at TOR2, and we will be asking the Government to intervene in this decision as well as remaining in contact with Kier throughout.

“TOR2 is a joint venture company owned by Kier and Torbay Council, with Kier being the majority shareholder. 

“The company is contracted to deliver key services to our communities and to date the only service reductions relate to non-critical functions which have temporarily stopped, with agreement from the council, due to the Government’s restrictions.

“As commissioner of local services, Torbay Council continues to pay TOR2 for the contracted work, which is in line with advice from the Cabinet Office. 

“However, we are concerned about these proposed salary reductions, both for the impact on individual staff, and for the potential detrimental impact on service delivery.

“It is clearly important that critical services, such as household waste collection, continue to operate during the ongoing Covid-19 situation.”

The GMB said several grades of workers at TOR2 including waste collection supervisors had been threatened with being sacked if they did not agree voluntarily to pay cuts ranging from 7.5% to 20%.

GMB organiser Matt Roberts said the union was “extremely disappointed” that despite trade union recognition being in place the company had failed to consult or negotiate about the proposal.

He said issues elsewhere in the company were “irrelevant” to the TOR2 workforce and described the move as “a disgrace and an insult” to staff who were operating as key workers during the coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Roberts said: “How dare Kier Group exploit this situation of national crisis to take money from loyal hardworking staff who live and work in Torbay and work for a Torbay-only company.”

A Kier spokesperson said: “On the 22 March, we confirmed a number of measures taken by the Group in response to Covid-19, including the executive committee taking a three-month reduction in their base salary.

“On the 27 March, we announced that further groups of employees would also take a three-month salary reduction, ranging from 7.5% to 20% dependent on their grade and our executive directors would take a 25% salary reduction during this period. Less than 10% of staff from the TOR2 contract are being asked to take a reduction in their salaries.”

Household waste and recycling collections are carrying on as usual in Torbay despite the coronavirus outbreak, but the waste and recycling centre in Paignton closed last week and bulky waste and garden waste collections will be temporarily suspended from Friday, April 3.