The Carmarthenshire Waste Strategy-Blueprint – presented to the council on 29 July 2024 – included plans for a new centralised depot. The Branch has highlighted that this may result in financial implications for its members who will incur additional travel costs and spend more time overall travelling to work.
The open letter added that the proposal to implement a four-day week for refuse workers will “only partially mitigate” against the downsides of the plan and that members are “still bitter” about previous decisions made by the council.
Unison said: “The harsh reality is our members and other refuse workers will be expected to foot the bill for a centralised depot.”
Unison stressed that it is “in favour of recycling” and would like to “see all councils hitting 100% as soon as possible” but has called for more funding from the Welsh government to assist progress.
The letter also added that Unison does not agree with the proposed four weekly residual waste collection schedule.
It concluded: “Unfortunately, the council knows the price of everything and the cost of nothing. There is no waste service without staff to carry out the work. The attempt to impose a centralised depot is opposed by Unison, GMB and Unite and our members. If you want to hit [Welsh government] targets for recycling, you need your workforce to feel valued and treated accordingly. Trying to impose a centralised depot and other detrimental changes on the workforce will be opposed.”
The Carmarthenshire county council is yet to respond.
Centralised depot to impact Welsh refuse workers
The council has opted for Option 2 in the proposed strategy which lays out plans for a centralised depot as a means of cutting costs and improving recycling rates.
The Branch asserted that it feels the decision to open a centralised depot was actually made “many moons ago” but that management decided to engage in a “shambolic consultation” to appease members.
The open letter noted that the council’s funding from the Welsh government was predicted on the grounds of a centralised depot and that continuing with the current multi-depot system might result in less funding. The Branch has proposed that this means that the government was only ever presented with the option for a centralised depot even though the council claimed all options were being considered.
The Branch added in the open letter: “We are of the opinion that no serious analysis has been made about extending or moving the current depots.”
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