Binmen in Kirklees have lifted the lid on long-simmering frustrations and resentment towards management and colleagues.

They claim bin collections are regularly being missed because some crews are going home hours before their shifts officially end.

Workers blamed managers at Kirklees Council’s Vine Street depot who they said favour some bin staff above others, with some binmen only working around half of a scheduled ten-hour shift.

The council confirmed refuse workers go home “when their round is completed”.

The authority also stated that 99.89% of bins “are collected when they should be”.

Anger over what they call preferential treatment has now spilled over with binmen saying they are tired of blatant inequality.

One binman said: “I am fed up of being discriminated against.

“I want to be treated equally. We are all supposed to do the same amount of work but we’re not.

“Other workers are getting preferential treatment and that’s not fair.”

Bin workers who requested anonymity for fear of disciplinary action said some drivers and loaders were leaving work as early as 11.30am.

Drivers are supposed to work from 6.45am to 5.15pm and loaders from 7am until 5pm.

It is understood that agency staff are among the workers going home early.

The claims come a month after a leaked document revealed agency spend in Kirklees topped £988,000 in January and February of 2019.

Of that figure a significant amount – £274,236 – went on Economy and Infrastructure, such as emptying bins.

Another binman said: “What makes this annoying is that we all have the same contracts of employment.

“For our management to hire agency staff and then allow them to go home after only doing five to six hours’ work is insanity.

“This is disgraceful conduct from the management of Kirklees who sell a public image of equality and fairness in the workplace that is grossly far from the truth.”

Binmen said problems arose four years ago following wide-ranging changes to routes, rounds and collection days allied to redundancies that meant insufficient workers remained to carry out rounds.

A combination of badly routed rounds, extreme workloads and overloaded bin wagons meant some collections were not being completed with bins not collected for days.

Workers sharply criticised managers for their attitude to staff.

One said: “The management are letting some workers go home before their shifts are ended.

“Other workers are given work that they can’t possibly achieve and are left standing by at the depot whilst others go home.

“Yet when rounds are not being completed managers won’t ask the other workers for help.

“There’s a lack of managerial skills and empathy to the workforce.

“They don’t have the skills and they blame it on the workers.

“This is not about money. It’s about equality.

“Either we all work our hours or we go home early.”

A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: “Agency workers are placed with the bin crews each day as extra resource and work with permanent staff to complete the rounds.

“They all finish at the same time, when their round is completed.

“We expect all rounds to be completed, and if they are not we meet with the crews to understand the reasons why, and we work hard to resolve any issues.

“Our figures show that 99.89% of bins are collected when they should be across Kirklees.”