Birmingham Union Deal Expected as Labour Scrambles to End Bin Strike – Guido Fawkes

Birmingham Union Deal Expected as Labour Scrambles to End Bin Strike

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The bin strike in Labour-run Birmingham has now reached the 30-day mark with no resolution. The Tories have called for the city to declare a public health emergency. Hacks have been asking Downing Street whether the army will be sent in…

MHCLG and Rayner are involved in attempting to broker a resolution between Unite and the council. Central government has been involved in securing mutual aid to work on getting the backlog cleared. Guido hears the current waste backlog is calculated to stand at a whopping 23,000 tonnes. Around 1,500 tonnes a day are currently collected – against 900 generated. At that rate it will take 38 days and eight hours to fix the backlog…

The strike is centred around the scrapping of the collection officer (WRCO) role, which will apparently leave about 150 members £8,000 a year worse off. Guido hears the offer from the council is for a lump sum of £10,500 to be given to those workers set to lose £6,000 per annum, along with six months of pay protection. That would be a total bill of about £1.6 million. Unite is for its part demanding a lump sum of £24,000…

There is pressure from housing SpAds and Rayner on recalcitrant Unite to accept a deal. A £24,000 lump sum would mean a payout of £3.6 million – something bankrupt Birmingham says is unaffordable. A deal is expected imminently so long as Unite doesn’t blow up again…