‘That’s why different political choices need to be made’
The trade union Unite has warned that the bin strikes taking place in Birmingham, which have resulted in rubbish piling high in the streets as well as an influx of rats, could spread to other parts of the country.
It comes as the dispute between refuse workers and the city council in Birmingham continues without a breakthrough, after the latest pay offer by the city council was “overwhelmingly” rejected by bin workers.
The dispute centres on the council’s decision to cut a role from its waste service, which the union says will leave a number of workers with an £8,000-a-year pay cut.
Unite said the city council’s “partial” offer was “totally inadequate” and did not address the potential pay cuts for 200 drivers.
Now the general secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham, has warned that the bin strikes could spread to other parts of the country if there are further pay cuts and job losses.
“If other councils decide to make low-paid workers pay for bad decisions that they did not make, workers paying the price yet again, then absolutely, of course, we all have to take action in those other areas,” Sharon Graham told LBC.
Unite’s national lead officer Onay Kasab echoed Graham’s words and told BBC Radio 4: “If other local authorities look to cut the pay of essential public service workers, then there is the potential for strike action spreading. That’s why different political choices need to be made.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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