By becoming contractors, Wallace said drivers would lose their right to sick leave, guaranteed hours and collective bargaining.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Waste Management (WM) said while redundant team members were given the opportunity to become contractors, this was not required or even expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cExperienced WM drivers routinely have the option to become independent contractors and many choose to do so,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndependent contractors make their own decisions about vehicles and financing. Any finance is arranged independently with their chosen bank or finance provider.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement released by Workers First Union, Manurewa local board member Joseph Allan said he was worried services would suffer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to have courier vans parked all over our residential streets, but nobody wants a stinky rubbish truck parked outside their house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens if the driver is sick? A big company might have spare trucks, a workshop, excess drivers. You lose the economy of scale. Redundancies at a large company like this could lead to worse services for council ratepayers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waste Management denied that its services would suffer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWM remains responsible for making sure the collection services we are contracted to provide are delivered, including having the trucks and resources required to provide those services each day,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndependent contractors already provide collection services in other parts of Auckland, and the model has proven reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waste Management signed a 10-year contract with Auckland Council in 2020.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s general manager of waste solutions, Justine Haves, said it expected services to continue as they had been.<\/p>\n