Bin strike reinstated as council issues redundancy notices

Industrial action by Birmingham’s binmen has been reintroduced today after the city council revealed it was sending out redundancy notices to some of its refuse workers.

The long-running and bitter dispute saw rubbish pile up on the streets of the city earlier in the summer when members of the Unite union agreed to take industrial action in response to the council’s plan to introduce changes to the service.

The strike action was suspended two weeks ago when a solution was brokered through arbitration service ACAS – although rumours persisted that the deal was unaffordable for the local authority.

The union opted to reintroduce the strike action from this morning following a statement issued by the council last night in which it said that in order to “protect its legal and financial position” it was issuing redundancy notices to Grade 3 Leading Hands in the refuse service.

It said the step had been agreed by the council at a cabinet meeting on June 27.

The council said it wanted to continue its ongoing discussions with the union through ACAS in parallel with seeking alternative jobs for the Grade 3s affected by redundancy.

The council has postponed discussion of the Waste Management Report, originally adjourned from August 24 to a special cabinet on September 1, and not delayed again until September 13.

In the statement, council leader John Clancy said: “The new waste collection system we are introducing will provide a better, more efficient service for citizens and will enable the service to be run within budget.

“We will be creating more than 200 new refuse collection jobs for loaders. These will be full-time, offering a range of benefits, including pension entitlement and sick pay and will replace expensive agency contracts which do not include these benefits.”

In its own statement, Unite accused council officers of attempting to reignite the dispute and undermine councillors with “disingenuous threats”.

It has rubbished claims by council officers that the retention of the Grade 3 loader roles would lead to equal pay cases and job evaluation issues.

It said that under the deal agreed at ACAS, the Grade 3 bin loader role would be retained and they would keep their current responsibility for safety. In return refuse workers would move from a four-day week to a five-day week.

It said it understood that council officers were basing their equal pay threats on responsibility for safety being stripped from the Grade 3 bin loader and given to the driver of the bin wagon. This change was not agreed as part of the ACAS agreement.

Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: “Unite is committed to the common sense deal agreed with the leader of Birmingham City Council at ACAS.

“We would urge members of the council’s cabinet to see through the council officers’ disingenuous and wilful misinterpretation of the deal and back it when they vote.

“Since the agreement was reached council officers have sought to undermine Birmingham council’s democratically elected leader with their attempts to unpick an agreement that sees compromise on all sides.”