'We cannot move on offer to striking bin workers'

Making pay concessions to striking bin workers could reopen the "historic injustice" of equal pay at Birmingham City Council, council leader John Cotton has said.

Unite union members have walked out over pay and working conditions in a dispute that has left bins overflowing, rats plaguing the streets and fly tipping rife in open spaces.

In his first broadcast interview since refuse workers walked out on an indefinite strike, the Labour council chief said a fair and reasonable offer was on the table.

Unite has said the council could end the dispute by agreeing a decent rate of pay, and warned the action taken by 400 bin workers could stretch into the summer.

When the council declared effective bankruptcy in September 2023, equal pay claims were among the key factors.

However, the equal pay dispute was resolved last year in an agreement with the Unison and the GMB unions that thousands of women would have their claims settled.

Staff in female-dominated roles, such as teaching assistants, had been historically underpaid, in relation to those in male-dominated roles, such as bin workers.

Speaking to the BBC, Cotton confirmed the waste dispute could see the equal pay liability grow.

"That's why we have been undertaking a pay and grading review right across the city council as part of our efforts to ensure that we close down that historic injustice once and for all," he said.

"I think it's important that everyone's paid fairly, which is why we are resetting the entire pay and grading model across the council, and rightly so."

He said every job grade needed to be "assessed fairly" and urged Unite members to get back round the table for talks.

Cotton, who became leader in May, said: "I inherited a council that had a significant situation with its budget, a big deficit.

"We had the challenges around equal pay and we also had a series of failing services - including in waste."

The authority had balanced its budget, he said, but now needed to transform services.

The city's bin workers had been striking on and off since January following plans to downgrade some staff and reduce their pay, but began an indefinite all-out strike on Tuesday.

Unite has said its members were facing pay cuts after the scrapping of waste collection and recycling officer roles.

The union also said members had already voluntarily accepted cuts after the council went bust.

Cotton said: "Everybody is in a position where they wouldn't need to lose pay or they could have an alternative role or take voluntary redundancy."

He said 80% of the workforce had accepted alternative offers, including promotion to driver roles, voluntary redundancy or moving to street cleaning teams, but 41 workers had not come forward to accept an alternative.

He added that the council remained in talks, that negotiations had taken place under the Acas arbitration service, and a further meeting would be held next week.

Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said the council could carry out a job evaluation and introduce a new role at a pay grade that would ensure equal pay liabilities were avoided.

"The job, undertaken whether it's snowing or baking hot, is difficult, demanding, dirty and often hazardous," he added.

Mr Kasab said there was a case for a new role that stopped the "brutal pay cuts" and also allowed fair pay progression for staff, most of whom he added earned little more than the minimum wage.

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