Birmingham City Council proposals to cut the pay of hundreds of bin lorry drivers is an “escalation” in the long-running and bitter dispute between the council and its waste workers, Unite said today.
The council has announced plans to downgrade around 200 bin truck drivers’ jobs as part of an equal pay-related review and evaluation exercise.
This latest move by the council comes as talks involving conciliation service ACAS on the dispute are set to be held on Thursday this week (1 May), a move which had raised hopes that the seven-week long bin strike could soon be resolved.
The dispute with the city’s bin workers centres around the role of waste recycling and collection officers, a Grade 3 role held by 170 staff, which was axed in January, triggering a wave of industrial action.
Unite said that under the council’s plans, drivers’ pay rates will reduce from £40,000 to £32,000, a pay cut of £8,000, a fifth of their income.
This is the latest development in the dispute, which has seen parts of the city swamped with mounds of uncollected rubbish.
Unite is accusing the council of using workers’ pay as a way to cut costs.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Today’s actions show clearly that Unite has been correct all along. Birmingham City Council is taking money off workers to pay off their debt to the government. Workers are again paying the price for bad decision after bad decision.”
She pointed to a recent statement by West Midlands Labour Mayor Richard Parker, who said “the strikes are a consequence of being asked to do more with less’’ as evidence of the counciil’s strategy.
Graham continued: “Unite will not stand by and allow the council and this Labour government to inflict these savage pay cuts on workers.
“It is completely unjustified and a clear escalation of the dispute. It will not be accepted. No worker should be expected to lose these eye-watering amounts of money from their pay packet.”
“The government has protected a Labour council that has been treating workers in this outrageous way. It is no wonder Labour is increasingly not seen as the party of workers. They should hang their heads in shame.”
Last week Unite said that it believed that a deal to end the long running bin strike could be “within touching distance” provided the council did not cut the pay of drivers.
Unite said this week that the council’s decision to cut the pay of bin drivers flies in the face of public statements made by council leader John Cotton that no worker “need lose pay”.
The union is now calling on Cotton, to be present at the ACAS talks.
In a statement Unite said: “The Labour government has a clear role in this dispute. The council’s financial problems are directly linked to its £3.9bn debt, which is owned by the government.
“If the government restructured or reduced the debt the council would not need to cut workers’ pay.
Graham added: “John Cotton has said ‘no worker needs to lose pay’. Therefore, he needs to be at ACAS talks this week and turn this comment into reality or step down for lying to the public.
“Also the government who owns the council debt and are profiteering from it, cannot simply sit on its hands.
“If this was any other employer apart from a Labour council, they would be calling them out for slashing workers’ pay.
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab added: “Today’s announcement makes it clear the council have been playing games.
“It has had no intention of resolving this dispute and protecting workers, this is all about cutting workers’ pay and plunging them into financial misery.”
In a statement the council said: “This fair and transparent job evaluation process, jointly agreed with trade unions, is necessary to ensure the council complies with equal pay laws.
“Today was the final workshop on the driver team leader’s role involving all Trade Unions.”
“It is part of an ongoing process of quality assurance and moderation, and this is an indicative grade which is subject to further collective consultation.
“We remain committed to delivering a fair and sustainable deal for drivers and collectors and we will continue those discussions with Unite at scheduled talks later this week.”
