Latest news with #Acas
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bin strike deal offer watered down, says union
A deal offered to striking bin workers in Birmingham has been watered down, their union claims. Unite has called for further negotiations with the city council after a "ball park" proposal discussed at talks with conciliation service Acas had been revised "by government commissioners and the council leader". An all-out strike in the city is now in its third month, after staff walked out on 11 March over plans to downgrade some roles, which the union says could cost workers £8,000 a year. Birmingham City Council has been approached for a response over the current deal it is offering. Talks between the Labour-run council and Unite have been taking place with the conciliation service since the start of May, after previous negotiations to resolve the strike ended without a solution. The union's latest statement accuses the authority of missing deadlines on the proposals which had been tabled on Friday evening. "After weeks and weeks of saying one thing in public and another to workers, the government commissioners finally allow a proposal to be put on the table," said Unite's General Secretary Sharon Graham. She said the offer had been watered down by the council leader and government commissioners "who were not in the negotiating room". Ms Graham said the offer would be discussed with reps over the weekend and a detailed response would be issued ahead of a reconvened Acas meeting. "The actual decision makers now need to be in the room at the further ACAS talks," she said. A court order preventing striking workers from delaying bin lorries leaving depots in the city will continue indefinitely, it was confirmed on Thursday. The union said it was preparing to challenge the injunction, but said it agreed to abide by the law on picketing. On 23 May, when the injunction was granted, the city council said disruption at depots had led to a backlog of up to 12,800 tonnes of waste. Police recently scaled down their presence on picket lines, where they had been helping to ensure bin trucks could get out of the depots, to prevent waste piling up on city streets. The West Midlands force withdrew after stating the issues did "not meet the threshold" to impose powers under Section 14 of the Public Order Act. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Bin strike picket court order to continue indefinitely Council gets court order over bin lorry blocking Union blames council for lack of bin strike deal Why are Birmingham bin workers on strike? Birmingham City Council Unite the Union
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Birmingham bin strike deal offer was watered down, says union
A deal offered to striking bin workers in Birmingham has been watered down, their union has called for further negotiations with the city council after a "ball park" proposal discussed at talks with conciliation service Acas had been revised "by government commissioners and the council leader".An all-out strike in the city is now in its third month, after staff walked out on 11 March over plans to downgrade some roles, which the union says could cost workers £8,000 a City Council has been approached for a response over the current deal it is offering. Talks between the Labour-run council and Unite have been taking place with the conciliation service since the start of May, after previous negotiations to resolve the strike ended without a union's latest statement accuses the authority of missing deadlines on the proposals which had been tabled on Friday evening. "After weeks and weeks of saying one thing in public and another to workers, the government commissioners finally allow a proposal to be put on the table," said Unite's General Secretary Sharon Graham. She said the offer had been watered down by the council leader and government commissioners "who were not in the negotiating room". The union leader said the offer would be discussed with reps over the weekend and a detailed response would be issued ahead of a reconvened Acas meeting. "The actual decision makers now need to be in the room at the further ACAS talks," she said. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
More than 12,800 tonnes of uncollected rubbish in Birmingham, council says
Birmingham City Council says 12,803 tonnes of uncollected waste have accumulated on the streets of the city this week, as an all-out strike by refuse workers council said only a small number of waste trucks had been deployed since police scaled down their presence on picket lines last were severely disrupted "due to industrial action by pickets" at three waste depots in the city.A Unite spokesperson said the actions of its members on the picket line were legitimate and accused the council and government-appointed commissioners of blocking a deal to end the strike. A council spokesperson previously said that "very few" of its waste lorries had been able to leave two of its waste depots on 15 May due to actions by picket BBC has been told a small number of waste trucks have been allowed to leave the depots in order to clear waste deemed to pose a fire risk, mainly at high-rise strike action by members of the Unite union began on 11 March in a row which focuses on proposed cuts to the pay of bin lorry drivers, which the union said would cost workers £8,000 per aimed at resolving the long-running strike, now in its 11th week, have been taking place between the Labour-run council, the union and conciliation service Acas since the start of collections have been disrupted by industrial action since the start of authority said it was re-grading the roles to avoid further equal pay disputes but that it was "committed to making a revised offer" which did not compromise the council "financially or legally".The council has paid out over £1bn in equal pay claims over the last two decades after staff in female-dominated roles were historically underpaid in relation to male-dominated positions.A fresh bill of £750m, later reduced to around £250m, was a key factor in its effective bankruptcy in 2023.A major incident was declared by the council in March as rubbish began to mount up on the streets, and days later police used powers under the Public Order Act to ensure trucks could leave the Midlands Police said the threshold for using those powers is no longer being met, but they "continue to have a presence" at depots across Birmingham. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Labour ‘sabotaging' bin strike peace talks
Labour has been accused of 'sabotaging' talks to end the bin strikes in Birmingham. The Unite union claimed that an offer was 'being blocked' by Government-appointed commissioners who were responsible for the lack of progress in ending the crisis. The second-biggest union in the country alleged that the 'fair and reasonable' offer being quoted by Sir Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner 'does not exist'. Its members have now been on an all-out bin strike for more than two months with no signs of an agreement being reached, leading to rubbish piling high across the West Midlands city. The conciliation service Acas has been involved in talks since the start of the month, but the dispute remains deadlocked. Unite said the talks set out a clear timeline for a discussed offer to be tabled by the council, but it claimed no offer has been made. Commissioners were brought in by the previous Conservative government after the council declared itself effectively bankrupt in September 2023. Unite said: 'What has become increasingly clear is that the offer is now being blocked by the Government commissions and the leader of the council, none of whom have ever been in the negotiating room. 'At the Acas talks, the council side was headed up for the first time by Birmingham council managing director Joanne Roney. She assured the meeting that she was the decision maker and at the table to negotiate. Discussions then took place in good faith. 'This latest debacle comes after it was confirmed that the 'fair and reasonable offer' that the Prime Minister, deputy prime minister and the leader of the council had been briefing to the press, urging Unite to accept, did not exist.' Unite said it had been asking for a copy of the offer since the start of the Acas talks, but was still waiting. Sharon Graham, Unite's general secretary, accused Labour of 'lying' to 'bin workers, residents and the public at large', and claimed that comments made by Cabinet minister Steve Reed that the union was 'playing politics' showed 'why there are workers turning away from Labour in their droves'. Ms Graham said the Government had said for 'weeks and weeks and weeks' that there was a fair and reasonable deal on the table to settle the Birmingham bin workers dispute. She told Sky News: 'That offer does not exist. I have been in Acas talks and I have asked for that offer to be given to me so I can see it and it does not exist. 'They are now scrambling to put an offer together but that now has to go through the Government commissioners. It's a total and utter shambles.' On Wednesday she told Sky News: Sky News: 'The issue here is that these workers are the scapegoats for bad decisions by the council. They are trying to push down pay of these workers so that they can deal with their huge debt. 'It's totally and utterly unacceptable. They need to give this deal to the union so that we can see whether it's good enough for our members. 'When you hear a Deputy Prime Minister say, when you hear a leader of a council say there's a fair and reasonable offer on the table, the assumption is that we have that offer in writing. We don't have that offer in writing. 'This is not the way you do negotiation. I have negotiated for 35 years with CEOs across multiple companies. When you are in a negotiation you have the decision-makers in the room. They give a deal and an offer to us and we take it back to our members in writing. 'The clear situation here is that we have not had an offer in writing from the council - and now additionally it's going to have to go through the Government commissioners.' She added: 'Unite deals with thousands of negotiations every year. From the council side, the negotiations in this dispute have been a shambles, with the government right at the heart of it. 'The offer briefed to the press for all affected workers simply never existed and the new ballpark offer discussed at Acas has now been blocked by Government commissioners. Instead of trying to injunct picket lines and attack workers, the council leader should stop playing games, get in the room and solve this dispute. 'Birmingham city council's bin workers, residents and the public at large have all been lied to. 'The bottom line is that our members can't afford to have savage pay cuts of up to £8,000 with no mitigation. Until that issue is addressed the strikes will continue. 'If Labour is truly the party for workers, how can this Government be aiding and abetting these cuts and once again allowing workers and communities to pay the price?' Unite said in a statement: 'Talks aimed at resolving the Birmingham bin strike have been sabotaged by government commissioners.' A ministry of housing, communities and local government spokesman said: 'It is simply false to suggest the commissioners, or the leader of the council have blocked attempts to resolve this deal, and we continue to urge Unite to suspend its strike action and both parties to reach agreement on a fair and reasonable offer.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
ITV News
21-05-2025
- Business
- ITV News
Union accuses government of ‘sabotaging' bin strike talks
The union at the centre of the long-running Birmingham bin strike has accused government commissioners of 'sabotaging' talks aimed at resolving the dispute. But the government has said this is not true and urged the union and the council to come to an agreement. Members of Unite have been on all-out strike for over two months in a row over pay and jobs, leading to bins piling up across the city. The conciliation service Acas has been involved in talks since the start of the month, but the dispute remains deadlocked. Unite said the talks set out a clear timeline for a discussed offer to be tabled by the council, but it claimed no offer has been made. Various unions gather for a 'mega-rally' in support of Birmingham bin workers Credit: Phil Barnett/PA Commissioners were brought in by the previous Conservative government after the council declared itself effectively bankrupt in September 2023. Unite said: 'What has become increasingly clear is that the offer is now being blocked by the Government commissions and the leader of the council, none of whom have ever been in the negotiating room. 'At the Acas talks, the council side was headed up for the first time by Birmingham council managing director Joanne Roney. She assured the meeting that she was the decision maker and at the table to negotiate. Discussions then took place in good faith. 'This latest debacle comes after it was confirmed that the 'fair and reasonable offer' that the Prime Minister, deputy prime minister and the leader of the council had been briefing to the press, urging Unite to accept, did not exist.' Unite said it had been asking for a copy of the offer since the start of the Acas talks, but was still waiting. Rubbish in the street in Kings Norton, Birmingham Credit: Phil Barnett/PA Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'Unite deals with thousands of negotiations every year. From the council side, the negotiations in this dispute have been a shambles, with the government right at the heart of it. 'The offer briefed to the press for all affected workers simply never existed and the new ballpark offer discussed at Acas has now been blocked by Government commissioners. Instead of trying to injunct picket lines and attack workers, the council leader should stop playing games, get in the room and solve this dispute. 'Birmingham city council's bin workers, residents and the public at large have all been lied to. 'The bottom line is that our members can't afford to have savage pay cuts of up to £8,000 with no mitigation. Until that issue is addressed the strikes will continue. 'If Labour is truly the party for workers, how can this Government be aiding and abetting these cuts and once again allowing workers and communities to pay the price?' Unite said in a statement: 'Talks aimed at resolving the Birmingham bin strike have been sabotaged by government commissioners.' A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: "It is simply false to suggest the Commissioners, or the leader of the council have blocked attempts to resolve this deal, and we continue to urge Unite to suspend its strike action and both parties to reach agreement on a fair and reasonable offer." Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...
