This week 30 years ago: Hackney’s bin collection service thrown into chaos after new union deal
Hackney Gazette August 26, 1988. - Credit: Archant
Hackney’s rubbish collection service was thrown into chaos with a new union deal that halved the number of dustcarts.
Rubbish was piling up in stinking bins on streets and in refuse chutes and some of the roads hadn’t been cleaned for a month.
Council chiefs said a new deal that was set to be signed would see the mess cleared within a week – but union bosses said it could get worse.
The chaos began when workers used to working three-hour shifts were asked to double their hours in a bid to see off competition from private firms. Fewer dustcarts with larger crews working unfamiliar beats meant they couldn’t finish their rounds and 25 experienced staff members retired rather than work the new hours.
Two fed up people dumpbed their rubbish on the town hall steps and a plague of flies was covering Lower Clapton’s Pembury Estate.
You may also want to watch:
One council worker told a Dalston firm to hire a skip for its uncollected waste, and bill the town hall.
Most Read
- 1 Hackney tenant who was left 'terrified' for years reaches court settlement
- 2 Hackney reviewing whether court ruling impacts low-traffic neighbourhoods
- 3 Police issue fines worth £15,000 after suspected illegal rave in Hackney
- 4 Lower Clapton blaze damages maisonette
- 5 Empty Hoxton car parks and garages to be turned into homes
- 6 Pictures: Scenes in Islington and Hackney after snowfall blankets London
- 7 Restaurant owner delivers treats to Homerton Hospital
- 8 Man sentenced for assault on Homerton Hospital nurse
- 9 Sawing-in-half trick reaches century since first show in Finsbury Park
- 10 Community lifelines: Volunteer 'superheroes' feed Hackney people in need
