Striking refuse workers in Birmingham have protested outside the Council House as talks continue over job losses and wage cuts. More than 350 workers began striking in January after the council scrapped a safety-critical role, cutting some wages by up to £8,000. Unite says the cuts are unjustified.
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NewsTranscript
00:00This is a council that has just voted itself a 5.7% increase for councillors, so the people
00:06who are telling us that this is financially necessary are happy to vote themselves a pay
00:12increase. It's not politically necessary, that's the point, this is about political
00:17choices.
00:18Birmingham City Council says cuts are unavoidable and waste services must be restructured to
00:23balance the budget. While council has approved an allowance increase, the council insists
00:28savings are needed across all departments.
00:32Workers have been willing to compromise, they've given away shift payments, they've been willing
00:37to do away with task and finish. That's an indication of how reasonable our members are.
00:43So for the council to now come back and talk about an £8,000 pay hit is complete and utter
00:50treachery. It's also unnecessary.
00:52The council argues scrapping the waste, recycling and collection officer role improves efficiency,
00:57but Unite says it unfairly targets frontline staff.
01:01On Sundays we've had vehicles, up to 20 vehicles, not able to get out on the rounds because
01:06they're simply not working. It was a high turnover of staff because they used a huge
01:10amount of agency staff. So the service is already on its knees even without strike action.
01:16So what they need to be doing is actually investing in the service, not taking money
01:21out of it by cutting our members' wages.
01:24With staff shortages and vehicle issues, the council says reforms will improve waste
01:28collection, but Unite warns further cuts will weaken services and cause more disruption.
01:35Council leaders need to start making different political choices, different decisions. Instead
01:40of wielding the axe on behalf of central government, how about standing up and fighting and defending
01:47the people who provide essential public services within the local authority? How about the
01:51councillors saying to central government, get rid of the commissioners, we'll run the
01:55council, give us the funding necessary in order to be able to do that?