Bin strikes could ‘absolutely’ spread across UK, union leader says
DOMINIC PENNA
Unite general secretary prepared to approve more actions ‘if councils make low-paid workers pay’
Bin strikes could “absolutely” spread beyond Birmingham to the rest of the country, the union leader responsible has said.
Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said she would give the green light for “action in those other areas” if councils targeted low-paid workers.
Peterborough and Sheffield are among the places most likely to experience disruption if bin strikes spread, with a strike already taking place in the south Yorkshire city.
Ms Graham’s comments came after the second-biggest union in the country overwhelmingly rejected Birmingham City council’s second offer, extending the walkout into its sixth week as rubbish continues to pile high in the city’s streets.
Asked how likely it was that the bin strikes could spread to other parts of the country, she told LBC: “Well, if other councils decide to make low-paid workers pay for bad decisions that they did not make, workers paying the price yet again, then absolutely.
“Of course, we all have to take action in those other areas.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Onay Kasab, Unite’s national lead officer, also said there was potential for industrial action in other areas.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If other local authorities look to cut the pay of essential public service workers, then there is the potential for strike action spreading.
“That’s why different political choices need to be made. I don’t think cutting the pay of public service workers is doing things more efficiently.
“If the pay of public service workers is attacked in other local authorities, then we shouldn’t be surprised when people take action.”
Mr Kasab said working people should not be “forced to pay the price” for cuts to local authorities, adding: “I think different political decisions need to be made. Why should working people be forced to pay the price for austerity?
“Why should our members pay the price for cuts to local authorities? This is a council that, while it’s facing massive austerity, councillors have given themselves an increase of 5.7 per cent.”
The Birmingham strike took hold after the council removed the role of waste recycling and collection officer. Unite claimed this would leave 150 workers about £8,000 out of pocket, although the council said many fewer employees would be affected and they would lose significantly less cash.
Birmingham council moved to cut costs after it effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023. The council has been blamed for mishandling an equal pay dispute that has seen it pay out almost £1.1 billion since 2012, with an estimated £760 million yet to go.
Mr Kasab said the council had “moved the goal posts on several occasions”, adding: “At some points, they’ve said it’s about equal pay, [at] other points, they’ve said it’s about a better service.
“Quite how you get a better service by cutting people’s pay, I don’t know, and now we are talking about costs.”
In Birmingham on Tuesday, with still no end in sight for the strike, striking binmen were locked out of the council house as they tried to deliver a petition, which they said showed they had public support.
Around 100 workers met in Victoria Square for a rally calling for an end to “cuts on pay” and to resolve Birmingham’s all-out bin strike, which has entered a sixth week, but were prevented from entering to deliver their message.
The petition, calling on John Cotton, the council leader, to “listen to workers”, was instead left in a box at the top of stairs outside the historic building after its front doors were shut.
David Callaghan, a 57-year-old binman who is on strike, said: “It’s unfortunate we can’t hand it in peacefully.”
Steven Biset, a binman, added: “The morale has not changed. The way I see it, we’re dominoes. If we fall, the rest will fall.”
The decision by Unite members in the city to rejecte the council’s second offer was seen as a humiliation for Angela Rayner, the Local Government Secretary, who had pleaded with union bosses to accept the deal.
Critics claimed the vote showed Ms Rayner and Sir Keir Starmer were “puppets of the unions”, while council bosses called the decision “incredibly disappointing”.
A senior union source warned that several local authorities were in similar situations to Birmingham, and that workers would consider following their colleagues in walking out.
Asked whether strikes could follow across the country, the source said: “That would be the response. If it was looking for our members anywhere like it is in Birmingham, with a quarter of wages being cut, then of course there would be a response. And then it would be up to members to vote, but it’s not inconceivable.
The Telegraph: continue reading
Featured image: Getty Images
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