Birmingham binmen vote for strike leading up to Christmas
Dec 10 2010 by Neil Elkes, Birmingham Mail
BIRMINGHAM’S binmen are today expected to announce a strike action which could see black bags piled high in the streets in the run to Christmas.
Leading trade unions, Unite and GMB, will notify Birmingham City Council of industrial action starting on Thursday, December 16 leading up to a full walk out starting on Monday, December 20.
Union members among the council’s 850 refuse collecting staff have been frustrated that no progress has been made on the dispute over the removal of controversial bonuses, worth about £4,000, and other changes to terms and conditions.
They are also angry that the city appears to be hiring hundreds of agency staff in a bid to break any strike. Last week they called off planned action with the promise of further talks, but these quickly broke down.
GMB union regional secretary Roger Jenkins, said the council is deliberately ‘stalling for time’ to put agency staff in place.
“We were hoping that some conclusions would come out of talks, but they brought absolutely nothing to the table,” he said.
“There’s adverts in job centres for 250 refuse workers. They are stalling for time so they can get these workers in and trained in time for the strike.”
