Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton has said he wants a meeting with Unite ‘as soon as possible’
Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
A major update in Birmingham’s long-running bin strike has been issued tonight as the leader of Birmingham City Council agreed to return to talks with union Unite.
The all out bin strike – over what the union said were pay cuts of up to £8,000 – has been raging on for over a year now, leading to huge heaps of uncollected waste piling up in city streets at its height and no recycling collections for residents at all.
But now council leader John Cotton has said he wants an urgent meeting with the union. It would be the first time in months since the council has sat down with the union, with the Labour-run council saying at the time that it had ‘reached the absolute limit of what we can offer’.
Read more Birmingham bin strike union gives jobs update as it slams ‘vile attack’
And Government-appointed commissioners said resuming negotiations to resolve the bins strike was no longer a “viable option” for Birmingham City Council earlier this year.
But despite reaching out for talks, Cllr Cotton has said Unite has to be ‘realistic’ and continued to stress he would not undo progress made on fair pay.
In a video posted to social media tonight (Thursday, March 19), Cllr Cotton said: “We have reached out to Unite to end this stalemate.
“The people of Birmingham want this resolved and the workers want to go back to work.
“So I want to get around the table with Unite as soon as possible.
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“But they will need to be realistic. Now I’ve been clear throughout that I’ve wanted a negotiated settlement to end the dispute.
“The only way we’ll do this is if Unite get back round the table and acknowledge the constraints that the council must work within.
“We cannot undo the progress made on fair pay and grading for all workers. And we must transform the way that this service works.
“So my message to the waste workforce is simple. We want you to join us in delivering a new, better service for the people of Birmingham, I know the last year has been tough for you.
“But the only way we will get through this will be for your union to agree a deal.
“We’ve offered pay protection, new roles and training opportunities. I’m clear that we don’t want people to lose their jobs, and that’s why I want us to get back round the table.”
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Today the leader of Unite joined striking bin workers for a rally at one of the depots where the union was fined for obstructing waste lorries.
The union must pay £265,000 for contempt of court after “slow walking” in front of waste lorries in the city during the long-running dispute after the council was granted a High Court injunction against protestors.
At the rally at Atlas depot in Tyseley on Thursday, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “We’re pushing back on one of the most vile attacks on workers we have seen in a long, long time.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham speaking to Birmingham’s bin workers (Image: Nick Wilkinson)
“And the joke about this – it’s not an attack from Rupert Murdoch, not an attack from Amazon. But an attack from a Labour council, under a Labour government.
“Labour should hang their heads in shame. They’re an absolute disgrace.”
The council is set to introduce fortnightly bin collections from June, as part of a wider service overhaul to also include food waste and different types of recycling collections.