Union ‘will continue Birmingham bins strike for as long as it takes’

Workers, members of Unite the union and community activists gathered outside Birmingham Council House on a dismal Tuesday afternoon (January 27) for an ‘enough is enough’ rally ahead of a meeting.

Industrial action, initially triggered by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role, has dragged on into a second year.

There were chants of ‘enough is enough’ and ‘clean our city’ during the demonstration, with speakers criticising the council’s leadership and government-appointed commissioners sent in to oversee the authority’s financial recovery.

The past year has seen Unite and striking workers claim they face a pay cut of £8,000, a figure the council has disputed.

They also claimed a “ballpark” deal was agreed last year after hours of discussions but said the figure could not get past the commissioners.

Unite claimed a later offer was much lower compared to the “ballpark” figure and it could not be accepted.

The Labour-run council has repeatedly insisted a fair offer had been made before negotiations came to an end last summer, with the authority saying it had ‘reached the absolute limit of what we can offer’ amid equal pay fears.

Claire Peden, team leader and organiser at Unite, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service at the rally that members were “prepared to stay out as long as it takes”.

“We know councillors are up for election in May and they know themselves it’s going to have a massive impact on their ability to be elected or re-elected,” the 42-year-old said.

“As long as the workers are standing here, we are standing here.

“I think the council should take a little bit of notice here as it’s passing the stage of no return for Labour in this city.”

Fellow Unite organiser Michael Agboh-Davison, 49, said: “We’ve been quite open with residents.

“Obviously residents are frustrated with [the situation] but it’s the workers that are getting out and putting their case to the public face-to-face.

“We’re not seeing the same level of openness from the council.”

Agency worker Luke, who joined the bins strike in the middle of November, hit out at how workers had been treated and argued: “There’s no compromise at all from their [the council’s] side.

“Obviously I sympathise with them [the residents], I’m a resident myself.

“My street at the moment is absolutely filthy – I’ll go out with a litter picker and pick up loose rubbish to try and make it better.”

“I’m sticking it out to the end 100 per cent,” he added. “We can’t just give up now, otherwise this whole year has been wasted for nothing.”

Bin worker Steve said his job being downgraded was having a “financial impact” on his family and he felt stuck in limbo.

“It’s what activities I can do – any days out, any holidays,” he said. “We didn’t have a holiday last year because of the strike action.

“I want to be at work, I enjoy it when I am at work – the decision I’ve had to take affects me financially.”

One supporter of the striking bin workers, dressed as Oscar the Grouch, added: “People have kids, wives and houses to look after.”

Asking for his message to residents, he said: “Get out there and support your local bin man.

“The only way this can be solved in a decent way is if people rally behind the workers.

“Unite want to come to the table, talk and get this deal sorted for their members.”

Council and Unite ‘miles apart’

Asked what his plan was to end the bins strike, council leader John Cotton said at the meeting on Tuesday: “[Bringing this dispute to a close] has to be done on the basis of not reopening this council’s equal pay liabilities and delivering a modern waste service.

“Those points are non-negotiable – we are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.

“We are open to dialogue to find a solution.

“However, those points have to be non-negotiable – it would not be in the best interests of the taxpayers of this city if we were to do anything else.”

On the challenges in finding a resolution, the council’s managing director Joanne Roney told a meeting this month that settling the dispute “cannot worsen the equal pay implications”.

She said there were also financial ‘best-value’ considerations that will be looked at by the government-appointed commissioners.

“It is incredibly difficult to find a way through these various hurdles,” she said.

“Nobody is blaming the workers for this situation – this is a failure of Birmingham City Council for many years to not address its equal pay issues.”

She added there had to be a “reasonable amount of recognition for both parties”, particularly with the council’s equal pay and financial position.

“They are just parameters within which I have to operate,” she said. “[The council and Unite] are miles apart.”