Teh One Who Knocks
11-23-2016, 12:51 PM
By Natalie Evans - The Mirror
http://i.imgur.com/FGmpYGF.jpg
A group of binmen have been sacked for helping an elderly man clear bags of rubble from him garden.
Dave Clark, Rob Jefford and Alex Steven were fired for gross misconduct after trying to go above and beyond the call of duty for residents.
The workers were dismissed on the same day their employer published a newsletter containing a note from a resident praising their work.
The binmen say they were not given a written or verbal warning before being dismissed on November 7.
After a complaint from one resident, bosses at Veolia reviewed footage taken from a dust cart camera, which is fitted on all vehicles, showing the crew, who operated in Chatham, Kent, collecting extra items of waste including bags of rubble.
Alex, 49, of Gillingham, Kent, said: "We were just trying to help an old man out.
"He had moved in and all these things had been left in the garden.
"We were just trying to do our jobs.
"We have had problems in the same road before and whenever we would radio in about collecting an item someone had left out, we were always told to just throw it in."
Dad-of-eight Dave, 51, said: "We weren't doing anything different to what every other crew does every day of the week."
On the day they were given the sack, Veolia's newsletter was published, which contained a letter from a resident living on the Hoo Peninsula praising the crew for their hard work.
Residents are so upset that they were sacked just before Christmas that they have started a collection to help the men and their families over the festive period.
Dave, also from Gillingham, said: "Ask anyone and they will tell you what a good crew we were.
"We are hard-working and we worked really fast. I'm out of a job now.
"I've got eight children, including a disabled daughter who is in full-time care, and I've got a mortgage to pay."
Alex added: "I've never been unemployed. I've worked for Veolia for six-and-a-half years and never got a verbal warning.
"I've got a 13-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son and Christmas to think about.
"I'm 49 - at my age it is not going to be easy to find another job."
A spokesman for Veolia said they could not comment because the matter is part of an ongoing internal investigation.
http://i.imgur.com/FGmpYGF.jpg
A group of binmen have been sacked for helping an elderly man clear bags of rubble from him garden.
Dave Clark, Rob Jefford and Alex Steven were fired for gross misconduct after trying to go above and beyond the call of duty for residents.
The workers were dismissed on the same day their employer published a newsletter containing a note from a resident praising their work.
The binmen say they were not given a written or verbal warning before being dismissed on November 7.
After a complaint from one resident, bosses at Veolia reviewed footage taken from a dust cart camera, which is fitted on all vehicles, showing the crew, who operated in Chatham, Kent, collecting extra items of waste including bags of rubble.
Alex, 49, of Gillingham, Kent, said: "We were just trying to help an old man out.
"He had moved in and all these things had been left in the garden.
"We were just trying to do our jobs.
"We have had problems in the same road before and whenever we would radio in about collecting an item someone had left out, we were always told to just throw it in."
Dad-of-eight Dave, 51, said: "We weren't doing anything different to what every other crew does every day of the week."
On the day they were given the sack, Veolia's newsletter was published, which contained a letter from a resident living on the Hoo Peninsula praising the crew for their hard work.
Residents are so upset that they were sacked just before Christmas that they have started a collection to help the men and their families over the festive period.
Dave, also from Gillingham, said: "Ask anyone and they will tell you what a good crew we were.
"We are hard-working and we worked really fast. I'm out of a job now.
"I've got eight children, including a disabled daughter who is in full-time care, and I've got a mortgage to pay."
Alex added: "I've never been unemployed. I've worked for Veolia for six-and-a-half years and never got a verbal warning.
"I've got a 13-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son and Christmas to think about.
"I'm 49 - at my age it is not going to be easy to find another job."
A spokesman for Veolia said they could not comment because the matter is part of an ongoing internal investigation.