Council admits some bin workers will lose pay

National World - LocalTV

Some Birmingham bin workers will lose out financially under council plans to reform the city’s waste service. Unite says up to 170 workers face major pay cuts, but the council insists only 17 are affected. Talks continue, but tensions remain high.

Transcript

00:00for months now bin bags have been piling up and patience has been thinning out the standoff

00:10between a Birmingham City Council and its refuse workers has dragged on since January with a full

00:16strike action in place since March and only now has the labor-led council admitted that yes some

00:22staff will take a financial hit council leader John Cotton confirmed that under proposed reforms a

00:27number of bin workers will lose money it's the first time he's publicly acknowledged that fallout

00:32after Unite the Union spent months warning about pay cuts of up to £8,000 a year the council insists

00:38it's nowhere near that scale claiming only 17 workers are affected and even then the loss is

00:43capped at six grand either way it's a drop in income for frontline staff already working one of the most

00:49visible unglamorous and necessary jobs in the city the dispute stems from a city-wide job evaluation

00:55scheme the council says it has to roll out fairly across all departments but for refuse collectors

01:00it feels like they're always first in line when cuts are dressed up as reform Cotton says a fair

01:06and reasonable deal is on the table and red lines are in place to avoid repeating past mistakes but

01:11workers clearly don't see it that way Unite claims the offer has been watered down and is refusing to

01:17budge in the meantime the council has used a court injunction to bring in more bin lorries clear the

01:23backlog and enforce a once-a-week collection across the city but the wider damage is done trust once

01:29again is in short supply with neither side backing down there's a risk this dispute becomes yet another

01:35chapter in Birmingham's long history of avoidable breakdowns between those at the top and the people

01:41doing the job

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