It comes after workers overwhelmingly voted to extend their industrial action mandate to March 2026 over what they say are brutal cuts,
Birmingham bin workers could stay out on strike until March 2026, the union Unite announced today, as talks fail to reach a breakthrough.
It comes after workers overwhelmingly voted to extend their industrial action mandate to March 2026 over what they say are brutal cuts, which would leave some at risk of losing their homes.
The dispute initially centred on the council’s decision to remove Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) roles.
The union claimed about 170 affected workers face losing up to £8,000 a year because of the decision, but the council disputed those figures.
Unite the union says that strikes have continued after the government appointed commissioners in Birmingham scuppered a deal that would have ended the dispute.
Talks brokered by the conciliation service Acas in May and led by the council’s chief executive Joanne Roney agreed a “ball park” deal which would have ended the dispute, the union says.
Unite said in a statement: “However, Ms Roney latterly advised that she could not get the deal past the commissioners. It is clear therefore that there is no point at this stage having further negotiations with the council. The ball is in the government’s court.
“It has also been revealed that the cash strapped council is paying millions extra to operate its refuse service during the strikes.”
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said: “Strike action will continue for as long as necessary with Unite’s unyielding support.
“Politicians’ treatment of these workers, including lies about no one losing pay and broken promises about being able to retrain in driving roles that are now nowhere to be seen, is amongst the worst Unite has even seen.
“The only way this dispute will end is with a fair and reasonable deal for Birmingham’s bin workers.”
However, the Labour leader of Birmingham City Council has hit back, saying that the council has sought to be reasonable and flexible, but ‘have reached the absolute limit of what we can offer’.
Cotton said in a statement in July: “We have negotiated in good faith but unfortunately Unite has rejected all offers so we must now press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service. This is a service that has not been good enough for a long time and we must improve it.
“Unite’s demands would leave us with another equal pay bill of hundreds of millions of pounds, which is totally unacceptable, and would jeopardise the considerable progress we have made in our financial recovery. We must be fair to all our staff, and I will not repeat the mistakes of the past by making decisions that would ultimately result in further cuts to services and the sale of more council assets.
“Successive administrations have failed to close off the council’s equal pay liabilities, costing the people of Birmingham hundreds of millions of pounds and that must end now.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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