Council Confirms Impact Of Industrial Action In Mid Ulster
Mid Ulster District Council services will be impacted by unilateral industrial action by UNITE the Union, starting next week from Monday 25 July. This is despite exhaustive Joint Trade Union discussions this week and a significantly enhanced pay offer being tabled by the Management side that fully demonstrated a commitment to supporting staff through the current cost of living crisis pressures they are facing.
The localised industrial action decided upon by members of UNITE the Union will take place across a four-week period from Monday 25 July to Sunday 21 August, and will largely affect bin collection services and two leisure centres in Cookstown and Magherafelt.
From Monday 25 July, bin collections will be heavily impacted. While the Council will endeavour to collect bins where possible depending on the availability of staff on the given day, the likelihood is that regrettably, the vast majority of bins will not be emptied.
While no collections can be guaranteed, residents are being advised to leave their bins out for collection on the normal day by 7.30am and they will be emptied where there are sufficient crews to deliver a service.
If bins are not emptied, residents are being asked to take their bins back in from the kerbside and place them out again on their next scheduled collection day, where again they will be emptied if there are sufficient crews available.
Where we have not been able to collect black bins during the four-week period of industrial action, we will accept up to a maximum of 2 additional waste bags on the next scheduled collection day during the week commencing Monday 22 August.
It is anticipated that all recycling centres will remain open during the industrial action and will accept all household waste during the four weeks. However, this will be kept under review and any changes to operational hours necessary to ensure the health and safety of users and staff on site will be communicated in advance of implementation.
Meanwhile, there will be no public group or intensive swimming lessons in either Cookstown or Greenvale Leisure Centres for the duration of the industrial action. In addition, the swimming pool and health suite in Cookstown Leisure Centre will remain closed during the four weeks.
The swimming pools and health suite will be closed in Greenvale Leisure Centre on Monday 25 July. As previously, the availability of swimming and health suite in this facility will be reviewed on a daily basis and we will update our customers each day on the centres’ social media channels. Please note there is likely to be restricted service provision during this period.
There will also be disruption to gym provision and fitness classes in both centres, with updates issued daily via the Centre’s social media channels.
The Council anticipates that all other services and facilities, including cemeteries, play facilities, parks, arts and cultural facilities, will operate as normal.
The Council wishes to apologise to its residents for the regrettable and unavoidable impact on services as a result of the unilateral industrial action taken by UNITE the Union, despite exhaustive discussions and a significantly enhanced pay offer on the part of the Council. It remains committed to engaging with the Joint Trade Union side in a spirit of co-operation and good faith.
Further updates on service impacts as the industrial action progresses can be found at www.midulstercouncil.org/industrialaction and via the Council’s social media channels.