The Unite union has accused the government commissioner of “sabotaging” the long running Birmingham bin strikes.
Members of Unite union have been on strike for over two months in a long running dispute over pay and jobs.
Acas has been involved in talks, however, talks remain in a stalemate as Unite says a clear timeline has been set out for an offer to be made by Birmingham City Council, but the talks remain in a deadlock.
Unite said: “What has become increasingly clear is that the offer is now being blocked by the Government commissioners and the leader of the council, none of whom have ever been in the negotiating room.
“At the Acas talks, the council side was headed up for the first time by Birmingham council managing director Joanne Roney. She assured the meeting that she was the decision-maker and at the table to negotiate. Discussions then took place in good faith.
“This latest debacle comes after it was confirmed that the ‘fair and reasonable offer’ that the Prime Minister, deputy prime minister and the leader of the council had been briefing to the press, urging Unite to accept, did not exist.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite deals with thousands of negotiations every year. From the council side, the negotiations in this dispute have been a shambles, with the Government right at the heart of it.
“The offer briefed to the press for all affected workers simply never existed and the new ballpark offer discussed at Acas has now been blocked by Government commissioners. Instead of trying to injunct picket lines and attack workers, the council leader should stop playing games, get in the room and solve this dispute.
“Birmingham City Council’s bin workers, residents and the public at large have all been lied to.
“The bottom line is that our members can’t afford to have savage pay cuts of up to £8,000 with no mitigation. Until that issue is addressed the strikes will continue.
“If Labour is truly the party for workers, how can this Government be aiding and abetting these cuts and once again allowing workers and communities to pay the price?”
Unite said in a statement: “Talks aimed at resolving the Birmingham bin strike have been sabotaged by Government commissioners.”
A council spokesman said: “The council remains committed to seeking a negotiated settlement to end the dispute.
“Our focus has been to find a solution to this that does not put the council in a position that compromise us financially and legally.
“The leader and the commissioners are fully committed to finding a solution to this strike, and it is untrue to suggest otherwise or imply they are blocking the process.
“This is a service that needs to be transformed to one that citizens of Birmingham deserve.”
Leave a Comment