As Birmingham bin workers prepare for strike action from Tuesday (February 19), Birmingham City Council faced Unite this morning (February 13) at a preliminary High Court hearing in London. …Read more…
Bin dispute talks collapse
Birmingham council was accused of acting in a deceitful and deliberately misleading manner by Unite, the UK and Ireland’s largest union, after peace talks aimed at preventing next week’s bin strikes…Read more…
‘Stop playing games’
Unite announced today (February 6) that it was seeking a high court injunction to stop Birmingham city council from breaking the agreement cemented in law that brought an end to 2017’s long-running…Read more…
‘Treat our members fairly’ call
Unite has announced that over 300 refuse workers employed by Birmingham council will begin two days of strike action a week, starting Tuesday, February 19, in an escalation of the ongoing industrial…Read more…
Drop ‘bully boy’ tactics call
Unite has said that the window of opportunity to settle the long running Birmingham bin dispute is coming to an end. If the dispute is not settled then industrial action will be escalated. …Read more…
‘Secret payments’ scandal
Unite accused Labour-led Birmingham city council of using Tory anti-trade union laws to attack its own workforce in a shameful defence of ‘secret payments’ today (January 15). It follows a…Read more…
‘Blacklisting payments’ row
Over 300 refuse collectors, working for Birmingham city council, have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action in the blacklisting dispute over payments made to refuse workers who did not support…Read more…
Birmingham City Council is cutting care workers’ hours at the expense of local people
Dozens of Birmingham care workers are planning to travel to Liverpool today (Monday) to lobby delegates attending the Labour Party Conference over the City Council’s plans to cut their hours.
The…Read more…
Blog: Standing with home care workers every step of the way
As a Labour member, I’m appalled to see a Labour council put these incredible public service workers in such an impossible position. And as your General Secretary, I’ll stand with home care workers…Read more…
Prentis tells Birmingham care strikers ‘we will win’
Birmingham council wants to cut the hours – and pay – of its enablement team that works to help vulnerable people stay in their homes
The article Prentis tells Birmingham care strikers ‘we will win’…Read more…
Paying homage to Keir Hardie at West Ham
Yesterday I took my fellow UNISON NEC member (and NHS hospital worker) Mary Locke on a whistle stop tour of the Old Town Hall in Stratford.
Mary was re-elected in May as a Labour Councillor in Birmingham.
Mary is a huge fan of Keir Hardie w…Read more…
‘Victory for common sense’
Unite praised the solidarity and determination of Birmingham city council refuse workers after they backed a deal at a mass meeting on November 25 that brought the long running Birmingham bin dispute…Read more…
‘Woefully inadequate’
Unite has called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate the lack of welfare facilities being provided to housing maintenance workers in Birmingham, who are directed by their employer…Read more…
‘Not in our name’
Austerity, Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett noted, is alive and well, especially in Birmingham if you are a refuse collector. Intervening at the Labour conference today…Read more…
‘Kids are going hungry’
It is long past time for a pay rise. The rise of low waged work is widespread. It has also been long-term. For at least 30 years, working people have been getting poorer while those at the top get…Read more…
‘Huge relief’
Unite called on Birmingham city council to honour the Acas agreement and resolve the Birmingham bin dispute after the High Court ruled in the union’s favour today (September 20) and ordered the…Read more…
‘You will not break us’
Amid twists and turns in the ongoing Birmingham bins dispute — in which the council reneged on a deal reached through conciliation service Acas, prompting the council leader to resign —…Read more…
Honour Acas deal
The leader of Birmingham City Council, John Clancy, has resigned after reneging on a deal to settle industrial action by the city’s refuse workers. Unite called on the council’s interim chief…Read more…
100% support
Birmingham refuse workers, Unite members, who have been striking to protect jobs and pay, visited the Unite delegation to the TUC. They received a standing ovation and a commitment of 100 per cent…Read more…
Brum bins: new ballot
‘Shoddy’ behaviour by Birmingham council has led to a fresh ballot of the city’s refuse workers, Unite announced on Friday (September 1). The union was shocked by the…Read more…