Birmingham refuse workers set to strike in row over job cuts

Refuse workers at Birmingham City Council are to go on strike in protest against plans by the local authority to cut jobs.

Unite, the trade union representing the workers, said 122 jobs were at risk and it claimed its members had been subjected to bullying while at work.

The strike action will begin at 10:45am and finish at 3:37pm on Friday June 30. There will also be a series of two-hour stoppages starting at 6am on July 3, 11, 19 and 27, and August 4.

There will also be an overtime ban plus returns to depots for all lunch and tea breaks, both starting on June 30.

Unite said the council’s overspend for the 2016/17 financial year, previously thought to be £9.7m had now risen to £11.9m but it was wrong that staff should feel the burden of this.

Unite regional officer Lynne Shakespeare has written to the city council’s chief executive Stella Manzie calling for talks under the auspices of the conciliation service, Acas, to try and resolve the issues.

Ms Shakespeare said: “The council’s actions have managed to combine financial incompetence in the waste management team and now they have started bullying our members as the bosses attempt to cut full-time jobs.

“The council wants to axe 122 waste collection jobs after a woefully inadequate consultation with the unions.

“The process was a sham, bordering on a farce – and that’s why Unite members will be taking strike action to protect services to the public in the UK’s biggest local authority.”

In its letter to Ms Manzie, the union states:  “This situation cannot go on any longer hence our action ballot. I would invite you to join with us in non-binding conciliation with Acas as otherwise we shall have no alternative but to increase our action and fight this campaign on the streets, in the media and in the courts, if we need to.”

Unite members voted by 90% for strike action over proposed job cuts to the city’s waste and refuse service and attempts by council bosses to tear up long standing agreements with the union covering staffing levels and working patterns. The workers also voted by 93% for industrial action short of a strike.

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