Latest news with #WRCO
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bin deal closer if council puts all in writing
The Unite union says if Birmingham City Council puts in writing "what it is saying in public" a deal in the bin dispute "would be much closer". In a statement, it claimed the authority's leader John Cotton said that Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) workers moving "sideways" would not lose pay, but this had not been guaranteed long term by the council. The authority has been invited to comment, while earlier, Cotton told the BBC it knew "services haven't been delivering for parts of the city well enough for long enough" and wanted to find a negotiated solution. More talks were expected on Wednesday, following union members' rejection of the council's latest pay offer on Monday. Hundreds began an all-out strike on 11 March, in a standoff with the Labour-run council that has led to bin bags and fly-tipped rubbish piling up on streets. In Wednesday's statement, Unite said: "Speaking to the BBC this morning ahead of fresh negotiations, council leader John Cotton said, 'we're in a position where nobody needs to be losing income'. "If this is true and guarantees were put in writing as part of a new offer, a deal would be much closer." The guarantee of no loss of pay for hundreds of drivers was not put in the last offer, it added. Unite said the union and drivers on strike had been told during talks their pay was likely to go down from £40,000 to £32,000. It stated: "For WRCO workers who do not wish to make a sideways move, the council are saying in public that they will get a one-off payment of £16,000 which would cover two years' loss of £8,000 in pay cuts. "Again, if this is true this needs to be put in writing." On Tuesday, the council said the amount of uncollected waste had peaked at 22,000 tonnes, and it was on track to clear a backlog by the weekend. Cotton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday: "We want to find a negotiated solution to this. "But what we cannot do is take steps that result in us creating further equal pay problems for the council, or indeed prejudice in our budget position, and also the service fundamentally needs reform. "We know that the services haven't been delivering for parts of the city well enough for long enough, and that's something that we need to change." The leader stated the council had "to be undertaking a full job evaluation process" and it was "doing this in partnership with the trade unions using a nationally recognised job evaluation methodology". Cotton said the authority was "absolutely focused" on ensuring clearance of the accumulation of waste, and it would be "addressing any incidents" that had arisen around pest infestation. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. Birmingham council 'on track' to clear waste backlog Birmingham bin strike to continue as deal rejected 'Bin strike frustration is turning into anger' Birmingham City Council Unite
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
As Birmingham strike worsens, how much do bin workers actually get paid?
Bin workers in Birmingham have entered their fifth week of an indefinite strike after they 'overwhelmingly' rejected a deal to bring an end to a major incident that has seen bin bags pile up all over the city. The latest pay offer by the city council was snubbed by members of the Unite union, which is representing the striking workers, meaning the action has now been ongoing since 11 March. Residents have complained of rat infestations in the Labour-run authority as fly-tipped rubbish remains piled high throughout the city. Negotiations between the council and Unite have stalled for months in a dispute about plans to remove the post of Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO), eventually leading to the bitter industrial action. Unite say that the WRCO is an important health and safety role and that around 150 workers face losing up to £8,000 annually due to the decision. The union adds that the plans will affect hundreds who face losing out on the prospect of pay progression. The council has disputed this, saying only 17 workers will be affected. While many councils have experienced severe financial struggles in recent years, Birmingham's troubles have been worse than most. In 2012, the council lost a Supreme Court ruling that opened the floodgates to a deluge of historic equal pay claims from female workers who had been underpaid. The council effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023 following payouts of more than £1.1bn over the previous decade. An agreement with unions in December 2024 left the council with estimated liabilities of £760 million. The UK government website says that workers who collect household and commercial waste for disposal or recycling can expect to earn between £24,000 to £30,000. Salaries vary around the UK, with London bin workers being the highest paid, with an average hourly rate of around £12.51, according to Indeed. Glassdoor, a website where workers can post salaries anonymously, says it can say with a high degree of confidence that the estimated salary for a bin collector is £21,311 per year in the Birmingham area. Bin lorry drivers can earn more, up to around £33,000 or more, but any starting salary can vary because of experience, training, or location. The WRCO role, which Unite are fighting to keep, is unique to Birmingham City Council and was introduced in 2017 because of a previous bin strike, say the council. On 14 April, workers were balloted on whether to accept a second proposal by the council, which was rejected by Unite members. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the offer was 'totally inadequate' and included only a 'partial deal on pay protection for a few'. Although the exact details of the deal have not been made public, Graham said that the offer still included substantial pay cuts and failed to address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers. Birmingham has already announced fewer bin collections in a bid to cut about £148m of spending, while increasing council tax by 7.49 per cent. Graham said: 'The rejection of the offer is no surprise as these workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision. 'From the start, the council has constantly moved the goalposts for these workers, prolonging the strikes in the process. First it was equal pay, then it was about improving the waste service, then cost cutting.' A Birmingham council spokesperson said: 'It is incredibly disappointing, that despite several weeks of extensive negotiations, Unite have rejected a second offer of settlement. 'We must also guard against future equal pay claims, and while we have sought throughout the negotiations to protect pay for individuals, Unite's proposals focus solely on retaining a role that does not exist in other councils and represents an equal pay risk for Birmingham.' They added that every employee affected by the removal of the WRCO role could "take an equivalent graded role in the council, LGV Driver training or voluntary redundancy packages." Onay Kasab, Unite's national lead officer, said 97 per cent of those who voted rejected the council's deal with a 60 percent turnout. He said: 'We are not asking for more money. All we're asking for is that people do not take a pay cut and leave them only just above the national minimum wage.' The Birmingham bin strikes follow other disputes between bin workers and employers across the country as local authorities try to save money. Some union members in Sheffield are on strike with Veolia, who have worked with Sheffield City Council to provide waste management services since 2001. Unite decided to take industrial action as Veolia refused to sign a union recognition agreement with workers. In December last year refuse staff at Peterborough Limited – a company wholly owned by Peterborough City Council – threatened industrial action in a pay dispute with the GMB union. Last month Peterborough Council recommended taking the services back in-house, which could mean the end for the company, whose services including recycling and waste collection. On 15 April, during a discussion about the Birmingham bin strikes Ms Graham said she would give the green light for 'action in other areas' if councils targeted low-paid workers. She told LBC: 'Well, if other councils decide to make low-paid workers pay for bad decisions that they did not make, workers paying the price yet again, then absolutely. Of course, we all have to take action in those other areas.' Unite members have now rejected Birmingham City council's second offer, with no news on when, or if, a third deal maybe offered. Graham has called for the UK government to step in 'urgently' and bring stakeholders to the table to 'ensure steps are taken to bring the strike to an end'. The city council has asked neighbouring authorities to help tackle the crisis. On Monday it was revealed the council was receiving help from the Army to battle the backlog. The UK government said that a 'small number' of office-based planners will provide logistical support, and soldiers are not being deployed to collect rubbish. A government spokesperson said: 'In light of the ongoing public health risk, a small number of office-based military personnel with operational planning expertise have been made available to Birmingham city council to further support in this area. Kasab told the PA news agency that the dispute could be 'resolved on Wednesday, and the best people to clean the streets are the people who work in the refuse service' He said: 'We don't need the Army, as wonderful as they are. We don't need people by the councils and agencies coming in.' The council have tried to remove the waste regardless and say they have collected 11,588 tonnes of waste since Friday April 4 as they work through the piles of bins around the city. Leader of the Council Cllr John Cotton said he shares the 'frustration of people across the city'. He said: "Our work to clear the backlog is gathering pace and we will continue collecting waste over the weekend. I fully appreciate that there is still more to do.'
The Independent
15-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Birmingham council ‘on track' to clear bin backlog by weekend
Birmingham City Council says it is on track to clear a backlog of uncollected waste by the weekend. Craig Cooper, strategic director of city operations, said that despite the ongoing dispute with the Unite union, clearing the backlog would start tackling those 'affected the most' by the bin strike. In a standoff with the Labour -run council over plans to cut the role of waste recycling collection officer (WRCO), hundreds of bin workers began an all-out strike on 11 March, which has led to rubbish bags piling up on the streets. Reports have emerged of 'cat-sized rats ' wreaking havoc to bin bags, which have been labelled the 'Squeaky Blinders' by one Tory MP, with concerns growing that the overflowing waste will lead to a health emergency. Mr Cooper said the amount of uncollected waste had peaked at 22,000 tonnes, but he expected to be back to "one household collection every week" for all residents by the weekend. "We're already back to collecting normal household waste this week," Mr Cooper told the BBC. "We are back into a position of good control. "The priority now is street cleansing and making sure the fly-tipping is at a manageable level." There are currently 120 bin lorries completing the rounds every day, which is half of its total capacity, while garden waste and recycling will not be collected until the strike is over. His comments come a day after Unite members voted by 97 per cent against the council's offer of pay protection for a number of workers on 60 per cent turnout, with Unite saying the offer did not address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers and was 'totally inadequate'. Speaking outside the council offices on Tuesday, striking WRCO Wendy, who did not want to give her surname but has been in the role for five years, fears she could lose her house if her wages decrease. She said she is not asking for more money but wants to keep her wages at the current level rather than see them cut. She said: 'I'm a single parent and I brought up three children. I also rent my property from Birmingham City Council, so if I lose £600 potentially I could lose my home. 'So the impact on it, everything's going up, but our wages are just stopped there. They are raising everything, especially the council rents, but they want to lower your wages.' Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Cooper said that the role of WRCO was 'not fit for purpose' and urged striking workers to think again about the offer the local authority has put forward, which he says has included alternative job roles. Speaking at the council's offices in Victoria Square on Tuesday, Mr Cooper said: 'My message to Unite is that we have put a very, very fair offer on the table. 'We know that there are 170 WRCOs, we know that 130 of them have already accepted alternatives, whether that's progression to be drivers and training for that, whether that's voluntary redundancy, or whether that's moving to a role of an equal grade and another part of city operations. 'There are about 40 that haven't, and I urge those 40 to look again at whether or not they want progression, to look again at whether or not they want to stay on the same pay grade and remain within city operations, because that's a key part of the offer. 'Nobody needs to drop down, but the WRCO role is not a role that exists anymore. It's not fit for purpose.
BBC News
15-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Birmingham bin strike staff to hold rally after deal rejected
Striking bin workers are to stage a rally a day after the Unite union members rejected the city council's latest pay offer to end the industrial than 350 refuse collectors have been on an all-out strike since 11 March and this latest stand-off with the Labour-run council, will lead to bin bags and fly-tipped rubbish continuing to pile up on Monday workers voted to reject the council's latest offer, which Unite said was "totally inadequate" and also did not address potential pay cuts for 200 council has said the offer on the table is fair and includes options for affected workers, but . The rally, due to take place at 10:30 BST outside the council house, will involve handing over a petition in support of the striking negotiations between the two sides are scheduled to take place on Wednesday. The dispute centres around the council's decision to remove Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) roles from some bin workers. 'Let's get back to normal' As the strike rumbles on, national government ministers have also voiced concerns over the situation in the UK's second largest city."Our message, loud and clear, is that Unite need to call off the strike, accept the deal, and let's get back to normal," industry minister Sarah Jones told BBC union said its workers were striking in order to prevent pay cuts, not in a bid to get more money than they currently receive."Our members would like nothing better than to be able to call off the strike and get back to work," Onay Kasab, Unite national lead officer, told BBC Breakfast."But as things stand, we still have people who are going to be facing huge pay cuts as a result of this." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Sky News
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Birmingham bin strike to continue after refuse workers reject council's offer
A long-running strike by bin workers, that has left rubbish piling up on Birmingham's streets, will continue after union members "overwhelmingly rejected" the city council's offer in a fresh ballot. The action by members of Unite, which began on 11 March as part of a dispute over pay, has seen thousands of tonnes of rubbish go uncollected and warnings of a public health emergency. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner visited the city last week and called on the union to accept a "significantly improved" deal for workers. However, the union said hundreds of its members had rejected the "totally inadequate" offer. The offer, if it had been accepted, would have included "substantial pay cuts for workers" and "did not address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers", according to Unite. The latest ballot comes after previous talks failed. Unite has been campaigning against plans to cut the post of waste recycling and collection officer (WRCO) from the city's refuse and recycling service. The union claims it will lead to around 150 of its members having their pay cut by up to £8,000 a year. But the council has disputed the figures, saying only 17 workers will be affected, losing far less than Unite is claiming. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "For weeks, these workers have faced attacks from government and their employer pushing the lie that only a handful of workers are affected by the council's plans to cut pay by up to £8,000. "Instead of peddling untruths about these low-paid workers and focusing on winning a media war, the government should have taken the time to check facts and used its office to bring the council to the table in a meaningful way. "The rejection of the offer is no surprise as these workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision." 1:07 It comes as the government called in military planners to help tackle the mounting piles of rubbish in Birmingham. Amid an "ongoing public health risk" posed by the mounds of waste, the planners have been assigned to provide logistical support for a short period. The move has not involved soldiers being deployed to collect rubbish. 'Army logistics deployed' Ms Rayner insisted there were "no boots on the ground". She said "we've deployed a couple of army logistics to help with the logistical operation of clearing up the rubbish". "We've got over two-thirds of the rubbish cleared off the streets now, this week we'll start to see cleaning up the pavements and streets as well as the clearance of all of that rubbish, I'm very pleased about that. The kids are off school, obviously it's Easter holidays, we want that rubbish cleared." Waste collections have been disrupted since January, before the all-out strike started last month. Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on 31 March in response to public health concerns. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
