Devon Springs recycling plant workers are considering a proposal from Government after downing their tools on Monday when truckers attempted to remove a backlog of recyclables.

Negotiations between the plant workers and Government will continue today, said Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess.

Attempts to prevent 50 or 60 tons of bottles and tins from being removed by contracted truckers on Monday morning were successful and the workers are now back on the job.

Mr. Burgess said yesterday Government and the workers had come to a tentative resolution and were expected to reach a compromise this week.

According to a Government press release sent out yesterday, Labour Relations Officer Glenn Fubler mediated between the workers and the Ministry of Works and Engineering.

More than a dozen workers at the facility protested the removal of the bottles and tins which had built up due to a mechanical problem with the plant?s conveyor belt.

Workers protested the removal of the recyclables since the work also helps them get overtime pay.

However, according to one workers at the plant, the workers also protested the removal for environmental reasons, particularly since the money spent to hire trucks ? which runs well into the thousand dollar range ? should be put towards having the backlog processed.

?If Government says there is no money to allow us to process this stuff, it?s understandable, but don?t hire the truckers to take the stuff away. It?s a waste of taxpayer money and it hurts the environment just to dump them at the dump,? he said.

?We hope with overtime or no overtime we are able to do what the public wants us to do ? and that?s to process their recyclables. Otherwise, why recycle??

He said the health hazards of keeping the tins and bottles at the plant were questionable since backlogs had built up in the past, - some as old as two years, and were processed safely by the workers. Mr. Burgess told this week the workers had handled back-up successfully in the past and knew the necessary precautions which could be taken to prevent the items from becoming a health hazard.

The Department of Health, however, had recommended that old recyclables be removed from the plant to reduce health hazards which exist in the plant.

The plant, which has ageing facilities, is due to be upgraded in the near future by Government.