Rattus has heard that rubbish is piling up on the streets in Brighton as the bin men are on strike.

This is always great for rats. They are abundant already apparently.

The council in Brighton has been trying to change long established shift patterns and the GMB Union has called a strike.

In Powys, which collects rubbish and recycling from a wide area and often down very narrow roads, changing shift patterns would cause chaos. That 20 second wait at the top of a hill on a single track road makes all the difference.

If there is a vehicle coming with a stock trailer it saves 20 minutes of argument and reversing. Some roads are so narrow it is hard to pass a bicycle. The driver has learnt from years of bitter experience that if he watches the road on the hill opposite for traffic long enough and there is none, then he will have a clear run. He knows every inch of his route.

Ever since they went to kerbside collections rather than expected people to bring rubbish to a bin on the main road the recycling lorry does every road in the county weekly and the rubbish lorry does it every three weeks.

Rattus suspects it is some manager trying to introduce cost savings to justify his outrageous salary.

It is very typical of UK management. Managers don’t value the skill and dedication of their workforce. Often they have never done the job. They assume that because on a good day the eight hour shift can be done in seven hours then they think they can just pay for seven.

When it is icy or snows it takes 10 hours and though they might get two hours overtime, the staff might miss their kid’s birthday party. They have to finish the shift. Just get rid of the managers if you want cost savings.

Rattus rattus