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Birmingham refuse collectors to strike because of council incompetence

14 December 2010

Refuse collectors and street cleaners employed by Birmingham City Council (BCC) have overwhelmingly voted in favour of an overtime ban and work to rule on 17 December and strike action on 20 December for 24 hour periods (see note to editors).

The workers are furious that the council is cutting their pay by as much as £4000 a year. Unite have accused the Tory controlled council of incompetence for removing an enhancement worth around £4000 a year, that Unite warned last year was not equality proofed. BCC chose to ignore the union's advice and alternative suggestions and went ahead with introducing the £4000 enhancement. BCC now say that its legal advisors have deemed that the enhancements have not been equality proofed and are removing them.

The council claimed it wanted open negotiations with all options on the table but then reneged on its promise of constructive discussions and took the decision to scrap the payments altogether with no alternatives.

Gerard Coyne, Unite regional secretary for the West Midlands said: "The blame for this dispute lies squarely with the Tory controlled Birmingham City Council. They have given with one hand then taken away with the other. This dispute could have so easily been avoided, but their incompetence and refusal to listen to good advice now means refuse collectors and street cleaners are taking strike action.

We warned the council last year that the payments they were planning to give to refuse collectors needed more thought, we even suggested alternatives. Now the council are removing the payments for the reasons we warned them about but won't explore alternatives. Our members are losing £4000 a year and have no choice but to take strike action until this Tory council negotiates properly with the unions."

ENDS

Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315

Unite balloted 286 members

For action short of a strike: 
Total number of ballot papers returned: 148
Invalid papers : 4
Number voting YES: 133 (92.4% of valid vote)
Number voting NO : 11 (7.6% of valid vote

For strike action
Total number of ballot papers returned: 148
Number of invalid papers:  10
Number voting YES:  102  (73.9% of valid vote)
Number voting NO :  36  (26.1% of valid vote)

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