Ministers sitting on hands over bin strike – union

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn1 hour agoShareSaveDavid SchafferBBC News, West MidlandsShareSavePA MediaThe government is sitting on its hands over the Birmingham bin strike as negotiations in the dispute descend into farce, a union boss says.Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has told Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner the government can no longer say it is “nothing to do with us. We can’t get involved”.In a letter to Rayner, leaked to the BBC, Graham also claims “false narratives” have been used in government statements on the dispute that has left more than 17,000 tonnes of waste on city streets.Birmingham City Council said it was “grateful for the government’s support”, while the government said the dispute should remain “locally led” while calling for “an immediate agreement”.”Every attempt being made to solve the dispute by Unite negotiators in the room, is being met with ‘a computer says no’ answer,” Graham told Rayner in her letter.Unite has claimed a planned restructuring of Birmingham’s refuse service would see 50 workers lose £8,000 a year and about 20 lose £2,000 per annum.ReutersHowever, the local authority rejects that and says under its pay restructuring plan a total of only 17 workers would face up to a £6,000 loss per year. Councillors have added that under other deals offered, “no worker needed to lose a penny”.”Let me be very clear that the pay of these workers is being cut by a Labour council under your watch. That is a fact that can’t be avoided,” Graham wrote to Rayner. “The current escalation increasingly looks like a declaration of war on these workers.”In a statement to the House of Commons on Tuesday, local government minister Jim McMahon relied on “false narratives” around the proposals and demonstrated a lack of understanding about the dispute, Graham wrote.She goes on to argue councillors involved in negotiations have no power to make decisions.”This predetermined charade is played out after ‘consultation’ with those outside the room – namely the government-appointed commissioner Max Caller, who is directly under your department and your authority,” she said.”Mr Caller is supposed to be acting in an advisory capacity. However, he has been acting as the principal decision maker.”Caller was brought in by the previous Conservative government in 2023, when the council declared itself essentially bankrupt, having paid out more than £1bn in equal pay claims.More about Birmingham’s bin strikesThe payouts were part of a wider financial crisis that left the council with the greatest level of debt of any local authority in England.”I am of course acutely aware of the financial position of the council,” wrote Graham. “But it is clear to me that my members’ pockets are being picked to make savings due to historic debts. “Indeed, Birmingham council are currently making repayments (including interest) of £250m per year, almost all of it to the Treasury, on a £3.9bn debt.”PA MediaWhile accepting the government has no “appetite for debt cancellation”, she said reducing the repayment period and the rate of interest the council is paying the government over its debts could be reviewed.’Full-blown crisis’”We need to have an emergency meeting with the leader of the council, regarding debt restructuring and immediately investigate the role of the commissioner in the dispute,” she said.”We can then remove the threat of cutting £8,000 per year from our members‘ pay packets and discuss sensible solutions.”Without addressing these problems with councils more widely, Graham said “we are looking at a full-blown crisis in local government”.A government spokesperson said: “It is right that this continues to be a locally led response, as is usual in the case of council-run services. “But we are monitoring the situation closely and will not hesitate to …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]