By Eric King-
A new row over union claims that bin lorries were going out to collect rubbish without a safety worker on board, are putting crews and members of the public at risk.
Birmingham City Council and local unions are in a deep row over pay rates, which has led to a strike that threatens to continue all the way into the summer. A resumption of arbitration with union group ACAS, who attempt to provide effective arbitration between disputing groups.
Labour city council chiefs are under huge pressure to achieve a resolution in a bin crisis, as legal threats are being made from all sides. Unions are preparing to stage a series of strikes over the summer in protest of the conditions and pay rates. Birminghm City Council currently collect bins fortnightly, leaving stacks of rubbish bins left lying around and polluting the environment. Several households are expected to have bins waiting around for over three days before they are cleared by bin men.
The row comes as Birmingham City Council were accused of often collecting rubbish without a safety worker on board, The Council is also accused of overstepping a 2017 High Court agreement
Only last week, a judge rejecting the Unions application in an attemot to stop the trial, despite admititng that they were “likely to have the better of the arguments” at trial. He said that if he granted the injunction, it would “directly impact” on the council’s ability to collect domestic waste and “would make matters worse, at least to some degree”.
He added: “This additional harm to the council’s ability to perform its statutory functions cannot be compensated in damages.” He also found there would be “some delay in engaging external contractors” and the council would also need to seek “additional spending authority”. At the heart of the judge’s decison was the goal of not worsening matters.
He said it would “at least to some degree, even if only temporarily, make a bad situation worse”.The second strike on bin collections is to take place tomorrow, leaving Birmingham residents with an experience similar to others they have had in the past.
He found there would be “some delay in engaging external contractors” and the council would also need to seek “additional spending authority”.
The judge concluded that granting the injunction would “at least to some degree, even if only temporarily, make a bad situation worse”.
A statement, Unite setting out the reason for the new ballot read:
It said: “Under the terms of the settlement The 2017 High Court agreement established that all Birmingham council bin lorries would not be sent on rounds without a Waste Reductions Collections Officer (WRCO) worker as part of the crew. The WRCO undertakes a critical role ensuring the safety of fellow bin workers at the rear of the lorries and ensuring the safety of the general public in the vicinity of the bin lorry.
As a result of the ongoing ‘work to rule’ and strike action…the council has been increasingly sending out bin lorries without a WRCO. This has resulted in highly inexperienced workers, often newly recruited via employment agencies, being sent to collect rubbish without a worker who assures their safety being present.”
ROUGHSHOD
Birmingham Council said in a statement:
Birmingham Council is riding roughshod over a High Court agreement that ended the 2017 bin strike.
“By doing so it is endangering the safety of its workforce and the general public.
“Given those circumstances and the council’s refusal to immediately end this dangerous practice, Unite is balloting for fresh industrial action, in order to ensure the safety of the local population.
“While Birmingham residents will, of course, be concerned about uncollected rubbish they will also be alarmed that bin lorries in their roads are no longer operating to agreed safety standards.
“This dispute and the related dispute about secret payments and the blacklisting of trade unionists are both entirely of the council’s own making.
“It is Birmingham council who can end this dispute by providing workers with equal payments and abiding by the 2017 High Court agreement.”
In a statement responding to the Unets, Birmingham Counci told The Eye Of Media.Com in a statement: “All city council employees who deliver waste collection services have health and safety responsibilities – it is not exclusive to a certain grade or role.
“The same can be said for any agency or contract worker we utilise for missed collections or the contingency plan to mitigate the effects of the current industrial action.”