A major union has launched a scathing attack on Birmingham City Council, accusing its most senior official of making "misleading" public comments about the ongoing and highly disruptive bins strike.
Strike Hits Grim One-Year Milestone
The industrial action, which has plagued the city's waste collection services, marked a full year last week. The dispute between Unite the union and the Labour-run council originally erupted over the removal of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role. Over the past twelve months, striking workers have maintained they face a potential pay cut of up to £8,000, a claim the local authority contests.
Despite repeated talks, the two sides have failed to find a resolution. The council insists it has made a fair offer, while negotiations formally ended last summer. The authority stated it had "reached the absolute limit of what we can offer" due to concerns over equal pay liabilities.
Council Claims and Union Fury
During a finance scrutiny meeting on Tuesday, January 6 – the strike's anniversary – the council's Managing Director, Joanne Roney, told councillors it was "incredibly difficult to find a way through the various hurdles." She stated, "Two offers have been made to try and settle this dispute. And both of those offers were rejected by Unite. That is why we have not been able to resolve the dispute."
Unite has responded with fury this week, branding Roney's remarks as "misleading." The union has written a formal letter of complaint to the chair of the finance scrutiny committee, Councillor Albert Bore. In its response, Unite claims a "ballpark" deal was actually agreed last year following lengthy discussions.
However, the union asserts this figure was blocked by the government-appointed commissioners overseeing the council's financial recovery. Unite says a subsequent, lower offer was then presented, which it could not accept. The council later confirmed that bin strike negotiations had ceased.
Commissioners Criticised and Doors 'Shut'
Roney told the meeting that "doors remain open" if the union wished to make a new proposal. Striking refuse collector and Unite member Matthew Reid bluntly rejected this: "Well the [council’s] doors are obviously not open. They say their doors are open for us to go back and get that offer they’ve offered us before, which we’ve already rejected."
Unite also hit out at comments from lead commissioner Tony McArdle OBE, who spoke of union expectations for "huge sums of money which the council does not have and cannot afford." The union condemned this, arguing its members have not asked for vast sums and highlighting the millions being "wasted" managing the strike's impact.
Unite's General Secretary, Sharon Graham, said: "Our members taking industrial action and the general public deserve better than this. Joanne Roney herself ended negotiations... after backtracking on the ballpark deal... As for the government commissioners who have constantly overstepped their remit... they ought to be sent packing."
In the letter to Cllr Bore, Unite's national lead officer Onay Kasab requested an investigation and offered to attend a committee meeting with the union's King's Counsel to provide facts and address legal issues around equal pay.
The council's leadership, including leader John Cotton, has repeatedly said Unite rejected a "succession of fair offers" that would risk reopening equal pay challenges. The commissioners recently praised the council's "commendable fortitude" in pursuing alternative workforce arrangements, stating this remains the "only viable option." With both sides entrenched, a resolution to the year-long dispute seems as distant as ever.
