Nearly 400 workers facing brutal pay cuts have voted to continue industrial action in Birmingham, Unite said today, with action set to carry on until December 5 at the earliest
The long-running Birmingham bin strike which has caused misery for many may carry on until the run up to Christmas, union bosses have warned.
Workers have been left angry amid claims the city’s council has backtracked on terms they say were previously agreed with them. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham told the Mirror: “Unite will not allow these workers to be financially ruined – the strikes will continue until December if necessary. After smearing these workers in public since January and telling them to accept a fair and reasonable offer that never existed, the council finally put a proposal in writing last week.
“True to form, the proposal came weeks late and was not in line with the ballpark offer discussed during Acas talks in May. It had been watered down by the government commissioners and the leader of the council despite them never having been in the negotiations.”
Nearly 400 workers facing brutal pay cuts have voted to continue industrial action, Unite said today, with action set to carry on until December 5. They originally walked out over jobs, pay and conditions in January after the council reportedly told them they would face pay cuts of up to £8,000-a-year – a quarter of their wages for some.
Union officials say it will leave them unable to pay their bills, including rents and mortgages. Talks have since been held under the chairmanship of the conciliation service Acas, but the dispute remains deadlocked six months on, causing rubbish to continue to pile up on Birmingham’s streets.
Ms Graham last night added: “It beggars belief that a Labour government and Labour council is treating these workers so disgracefully. It is hardly surprising that so many working people are asking whose side Labour is on.
“The decision-makers at Birmingham council need to get in the room and put forward an acceptable offer. Unite calls on the decision-makers to let common sense prevail in upcoming negotiations.”
Birmingham City Council has said it has “made a fair and reasonable offer” to end the all-out strike, which began on March 11. The bin strikes have caused rubbish bags to pile up on streets as people attempt to sneak their waste into other peoples’ skips.
Families in Birmingham are also facing a surge in rat-borne diseases as rodents flock to the discarded waste. Land, air and water are all at risk of contamination through flytipping, decomposing waste and residents burning rubbish, a secret council dossier warned in April.
The advice warns of a “medium” but “tolerable” risk of gastrointestinal disease from the piling-up of food waste, animal waste and human waste. A section on diseases carried by pests warns that despite a low likelihood of spread, the UK Health Security Agency is monitoring diseases carried by rats.
The document, as seen by The Telegraph, says: “Rats are vectors of disease including leptospirosis, salmonella and hantavirus. The risk to the public increases through increased proximity to these rodents, eg handling rodents, or contact with their droppings or urine.”
Residents have complained of rats the size of small cats feasting on rubbish left uncollected for weeks on end, although the report claims there is “no current evidence” of increased contact between pests and residents. A Local Government spokesman said: “The situation in Birmingham remains a priority and we have worked intensively with the council to clean up the city’s streets, with the vast majority of excess waste now cleared.”