Union to seek injunction against city council in latest twist in bins row

The Unite union has said it is to seek a High Court injunction against Birmingham City Council amid claims that the local authority is breaking an agreement reached in 2017 to end a long-running bin dispute.

The union claimed that the local authority was “sending out refuse wagons short staffed and without the safety critical grade three leading hands who operate at the rear of bin wagons”.

More than 300 refuse workers are set to start a programme of strike action next week (19 February).

The two days a week of strike action is in addition to the overtime ban and the work to rule that started on 29 December 2018 over ‘secret’ payments made to workers who did not support the 2017 dispute, the union said.

Unite added that it believed that the payments amounted to its members being blacklisted by the council. It is pursing legal claims through the employment tribunal.

Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said: “Rather than seeking to resolve this dispute by making an improved offer and giving Unite members parity with the rest of the workforce, the council appears to be trying to ride roughshod over the 2017 agreement.

“At the heart of that dispute in 2017 was the safety critical role of the grade three leading hands at the back of bin wagons. They perform a crucial role ensuring the safety of the public and fellow workers alike around the rear of bin wagons.

“This status was cemented in the legally binding agreement which brought that dispute to an end in 2017. That the council is now seeking to unpick it, while trying to defend the blacklisting of workers who took strike action to protect that role, is reprehensible and we believe unlawful.”

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said the council refuted Unite's claims.

“The Leading Hand role no longer exists. By agreement with Unite and with the backing of a Court Order in November 2017, it was replaced with the Waste Reduction Collection Officer role, which went operational in September 2018," they said.

“Due to the industrial action instigated by Unite, we have had to introduce a contingency plan featuring the use of contractors (their own staff, fuel and vehicles) in order to continue to provide a waste service to the residents, visitors and businesses of Birmingham. This falls outside the remit of the agreement reached to end the 2017 dispute."

The latest claims made by Unite were without merit, they added. “We have made a reasonable offer to Unite to settle current litigation within a range between £2,000 to £3,000 for eligible claimants which has not been accepted by Unite’s leadership on behalf of its members and we would urge their leadership to get around the table with us at Acas as a matter of urgency so we can finally get back to providing the level of service that citizens expect and deserve.”