SHARON GRAHAM: 'Why should Birmingham's bin workers carry the can for a crisis made by others?'

By now there must have been millions of words written and spoken about the . Unfortunately, as far as Unite is concerned many of them have been framed by the old motto: “Never let the facts stand in the way of a good story”.

So here are the facts. Since early March more than 350 bin workers in Birmingham have been on strike because the Labour council there is trying to force savage wage cuts on them. It’s like this for our members - one night you go to bed and your wages are £32,000. Then in the morning you wake up and the council says it is going to cut your wages to £24,000.

So in Birmingham a Labour council is cutting the wages of its bin workers by 25%, or by a quarter in old money. So what would anyone expect these workers and Unite to do? Stand by and watch it happen?

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Let me make it clear. My job is to defend workers, give them a voice. Be by their side when times get tough, when their employer attacks their pay and their livelihoods. What are trade unions for if not fighting for workers?

Birmingham City Council is guilty of pumping out false narratives in the media. Every day seems to bring a new lie. A couple of the standard ones - there are only 17 workers involved in these workplace changes and pay will be protected. Not true. The council leader says one thing in the media which is never repeated in the negotiations or written offer.

When this all started there were 170 workers facing the pay cuts and since then the Council has said 200 bin lorry drivers will be served the same medicine. Also being lined up for £8000 pay cuts.

That’s why there are over 300 workers on the Birmingham picket lines. Fighting for their livelihoods and that of their families. Fighting to pay their mortgages, their rent, and putting food on the table.

The council in Birmingham is in debt to the tune of almost £4 billion. What did the average bin worker have to do with that? The answer is nothing. So why should they carry the can for the gross mismanagement of their employer?

In this great crisis not a single councillor is being asked to take a 25% cut in their pay. No chance. In fact, their allowances have just gone up!

And since the council debt has been mentioned: we should remind ourselves that this is the government's debt. They own it. The estimated interest alone is £250 million pounds a year. Instead of picking the pockets of workers and letting down residents, why can’t the government simply restructure Birmingham’s debt to the Treasury. Or better still cancel it.

The woefully uninformed ranks of many of the Labour MPs, including every Labour Minister who has spoken on this issue, have demanded Unite get back to the table and accept what is on offer from the council.

The fact is we are already at the table. We’ve never been away. Unite's decision makers are at the table and can be there every day. However, the council leader, John Cotton, has not attended a single negotiation, even though we have been told he is the ultimate decision maker.

That’s a pity. John Cotton told the BBC yesterday that “no one needs to see a fall in income”. Well that is not what is being said by his team in the negotiations and it certainly was not in the written offer. If it was, we may not even be here.

The fact that the written offer did not deal with the loss of up to £8000 of bin workers' pay, is why what Labour MPs call a ‘fair and reasonable deal’ was overwhelmingly rejected on a 97%vote earlier this week.

If Birmingham Council simply puts in writing what they are saying in public. Including no-one will lose money, that wages will be protected for those who move sideways, the muted lump sum, then we will put that to our members. How serious are they? Not very, when they ended yesterday’s talks with 'we will meet again next Wednesday’. Why not today, tomorrow, the weekend. Why not John Cotton in the room?

Workers cannot pay the price time after time for crisis after crisis that is not of their making. If other councils decide to copy Birmingham’s savage cuts they need to understand Unite will defend those workers.