Birmingham City Council needs to “come to its senses”, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has said as fresh talks aimed at resolving an all-out strike of bin workers got under way.
Ms Graham is leading the union’s negotiating team as talks under the auspices of the conciliation service Acas went ahead in the city on Thursday, seven weeks after bin workers walked out indefinitely over the council’s plans to delete the role of waste recycling and collection officer.
But two days before talks were due to continue, bin lorry drivers were told their jobs could be regraded, leading to a loss of income of up to £8,000 a year, the union says.
The council says it is “undertaking a fair and transparent job evaluation process of the driver/team leader role, working with all trade union partners to ensure a fair outcome”.
Speaking outside the union’s regional office in Birmingham before talks restarted at 9.30am, Ms Graham said the city council’s leader John Cotton needs to be involved in the negotiations – something he has previously made clear he would not do.
She said: “We want the council to come to their senses today. We want the leader of the council John Cotton to come into the negotiating room. He has not yet been in the negotiating room and he needs to be so we can get this dispute solved.
“He is the leader of the council, this is happening to his residents. This is happening across the board, there’s rubbish piling up. When you’re the leader, then you must take the accountability and the responsibility.”
Ms Graham said Unite is “here to do a deal” but the ball is in the council’s court.
She said: “There are things that need to be ironed out. This isn’t a council that looks to me as though they want to solve this dispute.
“Forty-eight hours ago, they announce the drivers who are likely to be losing £8,000. Why would you do that 48 hours before talks are due to take place?
“I hope that we can come to a deal, we’re here to do a deal, but really the ball is in the council’s court here.”
Last week, Unite said it believed a deal to end the industrial action could be “within touching distance” before the row over driver pay flared.
Ms Graham said it is “not fair” that workers may have to lose a quarter of their pay.
She said: “It’s not fair, they have done nothing wrong and it is totally unacceptable that they’ve been put into this position.
“We thought (a deal) was in touching distance, because John Cotton had said in an interview that nobody needs to lose any money.
“What we’ve asked on that is detail of the proposal, the sideways move – can he guarantee that they won’t go down that road again, for example, in a year’s time?”
She added: “These workers have come to work, they’re doing a good job for residents.
“In fact, the residents that I’ve spoken to, and indeed that have come to the picket line, are actually very, very supportive of the drivers.
“If this was somebody’s son, daughter, mother or father, and they walked in and they said: ‘I’m having to take an £8,000 pay cut, a quarter of my pay’ – natural justice says that’s not fair.
“Why are these workers having to pay the price for a £3.9 billion debt not of their making? This is unfair and the council need to come to the table and do a proper deal.”
Asked what her message is to the council before talks started again, Ms Graham said it needs to “be true” to statements it has made in public.
She said: “Please get the decision-makers in the room – John Cotton needs to be in the room, along with the commissioner (Max Caller), who seems to be somebody who’s got a lot to say about the dispute.
“Actually, be true to what you’ve said to the public. You’ve said to the public that nobody needs to lose any pay.
“Either that’s true, and if it is, please put that down, or it isn’t. And if it’s a lie, then (Mr Cotton) should step down.”
She added: “(Mr Cotton) has gone on the airwaves saying ‘nobody’s going to have to lose any money’. We need to see what that proposal looks like, because that is not what’s been given in the negotiating room.
“He needs to stop, maybe, doing the interviews and come into the negotiating room, because that’s where the deal needs to be done.”
Mr Cotton previously stated he was “really clear” the negotiations needed to involve union representatives and the human resources officers and management of the council, adding: “The job of the leader of the council is to set the policy and the direction.”
