Marvin OnumonuFollowing a months long dispute, Birmingham City Council has made £8,000 pay cuts for bin lorry drivers, reducing annual salaries from £40,000 to £32,000.
This decision follows a potential end to the long running strike last week, as Unite said an end could be “within touching distance” provided the council did not cut the pay of drivers.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “Today’s actions show clearly that Unite has been correct all along.
“Birmingham City Council is taking money off workers to pay off their debt to the Government. Workers are again paying the price for bad decision after bad decision.
“Unite will not stand by and allow the council and this Labour government to inflict these savage pay cuts on workers.”
Graham added: “It is completely unjustified and a clear escalation of the dispute. It will not be accepted.
“No worker should be expected to lose these eye-watering amounts of money from their pay packet.
“The Government has protected a Labour council that has been treating workers in this outrageous way.
“It is no wonder Labour is increasingly not seen as the party of workers. They should hang their heads in shame.”
She added: “John Cotton has said ‘no worker needs to lose pay’. Therefore, he needs to be at Acas talks this week and turn this comment into reality or step down for lying to the public.
“Also the Government who owns the council debt and are profiteering from it, cannot simply sit on its hands.
“If this was any other employer apart from a Labour council, they would be calling them out for slashing workers’ pay.”
Onay Kasab, national lead officer at Unite, said: “Today’s announcement makes it clear the council have been playing games.
“It has had no intention of resolving this dispute and protecting workers, this is all about cutting workers’ pay and plunging them into financial misery.”
West Midlands Labour Mayor Richard Parker said: “the strikes are a consequence of being asked to do more with less.”
A spokesperson from Birmingham City Council said: “This fair and transparent job evaluation process, jointly agreed with trade unions, is necessary to ensure the council complies with equal pay laws.
“Today was the final workshop on the driver team leader’s role involving all TUs. It is part of an ongoing process of quality assurance and moderation, and this is an indicative grade which is subject to further collective consultation.
“We remain committed to delivering a fair and sustainable deal for drivers and collectors and we will continue those discussions with Unite at scheduled talks later this week.”
