Council using GMB as reason for not negotiating – it’s time to take a side!
By a Unite member
The heroic Birmingham bin strikers continue to push forward, building on the magnificent ballot and strike action taken by agency staff. This incredible act alone can set a precedent for future strikes.
The campaign is now at another crucial point, however. Incredibly, the Labour council has issued a report claiming that industrial relations between the unions and the Council are very good! But the latest report from the government-appointed commissioners sent in to run the council makes it clear that as far as they are concerned, the obstacle in the way of a settlement is the leadership of the GMB union.
The report states what the council considers to be the reason for talks breaking down, specifically that the GMB would come back with equal pay claims if Unite members got a deal to compensate workers for the loss of pay.
The commissioners state: “The council’s attempts to reach a negotiated settlement on the dispute caused the main litigant union (GMB) to seek to re–open the in-principle equal pay negotiation settlement, claiming that any settlement with their equal pay comparators would require further financial compensation.”
“Consequently, progress in the council achieving final settlement on the equal pay claims stalled for at least four months, and only recommenced in earnest in early August, when the council and commissioners made the decision to cease further talks with Unite following several rejected offers of settlement.”
The implication here, if what the commissioners are saying is true, is that GMB leaders sabotaged talks and therefore the campaign. Of course, the government-appointed commissioners can’t be trusted. If, as we hope, this report is untrue, the GMB leadership should immediately make a public statement saying so.
GMB and Unite members need unity
We know that GMB members are supportive of the Unite action and would want that approach reflected by their leadership – they know that the attacks by the council on Unite members could be made against them as well.
Leaving aside that Unite has KC opinion to show that there is no equal pay risk, a union should be fighting to harmonise up, not encouraging a race to the bottom. GMB leaders cannot have it both ways – they cannot support bin workers fighting pay cuts while at the same time appearing to use bin workers whose pay is attacked as pawns, while making an equal pay deal for other staff. How many other employers will GMB leaders use this tactic with?
Women workers who have benefited from lump-sum payments as part of the equal pay deal would not have wanted bin workers to take a pay cut of £8,000 to pay for it. During the last bin strike in 2019, striking women homecare workers joined bin workers’ pickets. If the leadership of the other council unions refuse to side with the bin workers, a direct appeal to their members to do so will have to be made.
In summary, according to the commissioners’ report, the GMB leadership is threatening the council with legal action should it make an agreement with Unite to settle the dispute. The logic of that position could only be for refuse workers to accept the loss of £8,000 a year with no compensation.
GMB members will want their leaders to speak up: to deny the commissioners’ statement and come out in support of the Unite refuse strikers – not side with the employers.
