Unite statement on Birmingham bin strike talks today

During the talks today the council refused to put in writing what John Cotton and his team have been saying in public and in media interviews.

We believe they are telling untruths to the public to infer the offer given is better than it really is. They need to come clean.

Mr Cotton said only today that ‘nobody needs to lose income’ and other council officers publicly have made references to items on an offer Unite has not been given. 

So today Unite asked council negotiators to put in writing what has been said in public by them, so members could consider it as an official offer.

Namely: 

1. That no-one would lose any pay.
2. That WRCO workers that moved sideways into new jobs would not lose pay in the long term. 
3. That drivers would not lose pay by being downgraded, which would result in an £8,000 loss.
4. That WRCO workers who do not wish to make a sideways move would receive a one-off payment of £16,000 to cover two years loss of £8,000 in pay cuts. 

The council negotiators refused to put this in writing.

Unite has offered to continue negotiations for the rest of the week and over the bank holiday weekend. However, the council has said talks will not resume until next Wednesday. 

Unite has again urged both John Cotton as well as Angela Rayner to meet with the union’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, at any point over Easter to get the issues addressed for these workers and the people of Birmingham.

ENDS