The plans to remove the waste recycling and collection officer role from its fleets could potentially eliminate Birmingham city council’s future equal pay liabilities.
Unite say cost savings are the council’s main aim – not their claim that such a role does not exist in other local authorities and so shouldn’t either in Brum.
The use of agency workers has further outraged Unite members and they have sought to block depot exits slowing down bin collection to a virtual standstill.
Cost cutting has reduced bin worker pay massively already, says Onay Kasab, Unite’s national lead officer.
Birmingham city council refuses to rule out further pay cuts and redundancies and Unite members see the planned changes as the tip of the iceberg.
The temperature of the dispute has risen with Unite leader Sharon Graham accusing the council of ‘bully boy tactics.’
The union see what is happening in Birmingham as an example of what is to come nationally as more and more councils become cash strapped.
Unite leaders have gone on record saying they will ensure redundancies do not take place. That’s a big promise to make in the circumstances.
This is a clash between a bankrupt council trying to make savings and a union determined not to allow members to become worse off especially in the face of planned price rises (taxes, energy bills etc) in April.
Positions – and tempers – on every side of this issue are likely to become hotter and more entrenched over the next few months. This is just the end of the beginning.
