25 trade unions urge Deputy Prime Minister to end Birmingham bin strikes
The trade unions have signed a joint letter to Angela Rayner MP and the leader of Birmingham City Council
25 trade unions have signed a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and the leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor John Cotton, calling on them to step in and bring an end to Birmingham's bin strikes.
This letter is the latest demonstration of support and solidarity from the trade union movement for the Birmingham bin workers facing huge pay cuts.
The conciliation service Acas is involved in trying to achieve a breakthrough but despite a number of meetings, the dispute remains deadlocked.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF general secretary and chair of Trade Union and Labour Party Liaison Organisation, said: “Last week’s Megapicket showed the huge levels of support from around the country in opposing cuts to our services.
"Austerity is a political choice. We continue to stand by the Birmingham bin workers and that is why we have backed this important letter to the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of Birmingham City Council to end these cuts now.”
Steve Wright, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has also said his union is in "full solidarity" with bin workers:
“We have always rejected the idea that firefighters would ever be used to undermine this dispute and help the council through this strike action.
"We urge the council, commissioners, with Government support to rebuild our local services, by first ending this attack on the Birmingham bin workers,” said Wright.
Sarah Woolley, general secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) and president of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) has also signed the letter and said both unions are "one hundred percent behind these workers."
Woolley said: “We are looking forward to hosting striking workers at the upcoming GFTU’s Biennial General Council Meeting on 18-20 May. Both the BFAWU and GFTU are one hundred percent behind these workers.
"We need to see our lives improving under this Government, not the continual decline of standards of living, and pandering to the far right.”
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has previously called for an end to the bin strikes and urged union staff to accept a pay deal.
Birmingham City Council maintains it has made a 'fair and reasonable' offer to bin workers.