Latest news with #Sharon Graham
The Independent
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ministers ‘have their fingers in their ears' over bin strikes, says Sharon Graham
Ministers 'have their fingers in their ears' over the ongoing Birmingham bin strikes, the boss of one of Britain's biggest unions has said. The prime minister and Angela Rayner must 'get in the room, sort it out and stop letting this continue for no reason,' Sharon Graham warned. The outspoken Unite chief said she is not the prime minister's ' favourite trade union leader … probably because I call things out'. But, with the bin strikes running since January, Ms Graham called for the prime minister and his deputy to resolve the dispute. The strikes have resulted in huge piles of rubbish across Birmingham as well as rat infestations and unsanitary conditions. The left-winger has been increasingly critical of Labour 's time in government in recent weeks, and Unite is reexamining its relationship with the Labour party, with disaffiliation a real prospect. The union also took the incendiary step this month of voting to suspend Ms Rayner's membership over the strikes, with Ms Graham accusing her of failing to back workers. Ms Rayner had resigned her membership some months earlier. 'Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute, but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts,' Ms Graham said this month. And, doubling down in an interview with The Times, she called for a major change of course from Labour. 'People were voting for hope,' she said after Labour's first year in power. 'They are not voting for despair, are they?' Ms Graham said she has been 'in more government rooms than I've had hot dinners in the last year', but that 'getting a hearing and being listened to are two very different things'. She warned that if Sir Keir and Ms Rayner keep 'attacking workers' then she would be happy to pull the union's backing of Labour - which would deal a major financial blow to the party. 'Is there something to be said for an authentic voice for workers, independent, strong unions, where your first, second and third priority is the workers?' she told The Times. She added that, if Unite had voted on whether to abandon its link to Labour, it would have passed 'without a shadow of a doubt'. But, with hopes her pressure on the party will force a rethink in Downing Street, she said 'we've got time to recoup this'. 'They've been in for a year. They've made some errors but there's no point going further and faster when you're heading for a cliff. They have time to address some of this stuff, but they're going to have to move fast,' Ms Graham said. She added: 'I think if we're here at the end of next year in the same position, I think there's a real problem.' Ms Graham was also a vocal critic of the government's decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. Despite the U-turn, she said there are older people who will now never vote Labour again. A Labour Party Spokesperson said: "The Labour Government has introduced the biggest upgrade in workers' rights in a generation to address low pay, insecure work, and poor working conditions, which will benefit 15 million workers across the country. Only Labour is delivering the change working people voted for and so deserve."
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Workers at huge site 'set to go hungry' in row over 'poverty pay'
Canteen staff at Fawley refinery are set to strike in a move their union says will leave fellow workers at the huge site "famished". Caterers employed by the London-based Compass Group are threatening to walk out later this month and again in August over what the union Unite describes as "poverty pay". Unite claims that canteen workers receive only slightly more than the minimum wage. According to the union, Compass is the world's largest catering provider and made more than £1.2bn in operating profits in the six months to March 2025. Canteen staff at Fawley refinery are set to strike over what their union describes as 'poverty pay' (Image: Stephen Bath) Unite's general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: "The Compass Group is a hugely rich company that is refusing these workers a fair pay rise. "Unite will not let this happen - the Fawley canteen workers have their union's full support in taking strike action for as long as is necessary." READ MORE: ExxonMobil Fawley to burn blue flares in the New Forest Two strikes on July 25-28 and August 1-4 will involve more than 20 staff at three facilities. Rebecca Johns-Lawrence, the union's regional officer, said: "Esso will not be happy that workers at Fawley will be famished. "There is still time to avoid industrial action but that will require the company putting forward an acceptable offer, which Fawley bosses should be pressuring Compass to do." Canteen staff at Fawley refinery are set to strike over what their union describes as 'poverty pay' (Image: Stephen Bath) The refinery occupies a 3,250-acre site and is the largest facility of its type in the UK. It makes a wide range of everyday products using processes that provide employment for more than 2,500 staff and contractors. A spokesperson for Eurest, which is part of Compass, said: "We are disappointed by the decision of our employees to ballot for industrial action. "We have proposed a pay offer we believe is fair in light of the current economic backdrop. Our colleagues are all paid Real Living Wage or above and have access to a range of benefits. We remain open to resolving this issue swiftly. 'We have put in place alternative arrangements to ensure catering is still provided to the employees on site while industrial action is underway." Esso is part of ExxonMobil, which said the proposed strikes were not in anyone's interest. "We encourage employers and representatives to work together constructively to reach a resolution as quickly as possible. We have taken contingencies to ensure on-site personnel are not impacted."
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Birmingham bin lorries delayed by picket line, council says
Council chiefs have blamed "actions on the picket line" for delays to rubbish collections across Birmingham on Tuesday. The city council warned residents there may be some disruption in the service in a message posted on said: "Due to actions on the picket line, there were some delays in waste wagons leaving some of our depots on Tuesday. This may affect the number of collections we are able to make. If today is your collection day, please leave your bins out, and we will collect asap."A spokesperson for Unite, which represents the striking bin workers, said its members "engaged in peaceful and lawful picketing". It comes after the BBC was informed talks to resolve Birmingham's bin strike had broken down completely and some bin lorry drivers were now at risk of compulsory redundancy. Conciliation service Acas had been mediating in the negotiations since May, but the council has now reportedly walked City Council leader John Cotton said the authority had "reached the absolute limit" of what it could offer in talks with the general secretary Sharon Graham claimed the council had resorted to a "fire and rehire" strategy, which she said would not work. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Independent
12-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Tensions escalate between Labour and major financial backer
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham criticised Angela Rayner 's "utterly abhorrent" conduct regarding the Birmingham bin strike, accusing her of aiding "fire and rehire" tactics. Unite is considering ending its long affiliation with the Labour Party, with Graham stating the £1.5m annual payment is "hard to justify" and members voted to re-examine their relationship. Rayner's allies countered that she resigned from Unite in April and would not be "pushed around," with a Labour source adding Unite rejected a deal that would have undermined equal pay. Graham disputed Rayner's resignation timeline, suggesting she was still a member when seeking election funds and may have recently tried to leave the union. The bin strike began over Birmingham City Council's plan to remove waste recycling roles, potentially costing 170 workers up to £8,000 annually, with talks to resolve the dispute having broken down.
The Independent
12-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Unite boss accuses Angela Rayner of ‘totally and utterly abhorrent' behaviour as clash with Labour escalates
The leader of Unite has described Angela Rayner's behaviour during recent bin strikes as 'totally and utterly abhorrent' as tensions ramp up between the government and Labour's biggest union backers. General secretary Sharon Graham hit out at the deputy prime minister after the union voted to suspend her in a row over how the Labour-run council in Birmingham treated striking bin workers. The union, one of Labour's biggest financial backers, claims fire and rehire tactics had 'effectively' been deployed against striking workers, who are taking industrial action in a dispute over pay and job conditions. In a fresh attack on Saturday, Ms Graham told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Angela Rayner refuses to get involved, and she is directly aiding and abetting the fire and rehire of these bin workers, it is totally and utterly abhorrent." The general secretary said Ms Rayner had been "a member of our union for over 10 years". Allies of Ms Rayner have said she resigned from Unite in April. Ms Graham said the politician may well have done 'Houdini act' in recent months by trying to leave the Union, but added: "She was very clearly a member when she asked us to give her £10,000 for the election. And on our system, obviously we go by quarters, so up to the March quarter." She added: "Now, if she has over the last couple of weeks, because she's seen the mood music, because this isn't the first time that we've discussed that we're not happy with what's going on, then she may well have done that." Ms Graham hinted that the union may have to rethink its relationship with Labour, adding that Unite members have to see that the fee to affiliate with Labour is "worth something'. "At this present moment in time, it is hard to justify it, if I'm being honest,' she continued. 'Would that money be better spent on frontline services for my members? But the decision will be a serious decision. It's not a rash decision."
