Union bosses behind Birmingham bin strike told to ‘break from Labour’ in major political shake-up

Unite union activists in Birmingham are calling for the city to “break from Labour” and “build a real workers party” amid ongoing bin strikes.The industrial action has left 21,000 tonnes of rubbish piling up across England’s second city.Bin workers have rejected the Labour-led council’s latest pay offer by an overwhelming majority, with fresh talks ending without agreement.Taking to Facebook on Wednesday, Unite Community Birmingham urged colleagues to join alliances with “lefty Greens”, other trade unionists and “free Palestine activists” in a new coalition.The union community branch posted: “I think there needs to be discussion involving all the groups, lefty greens, trade unionists, free Palestine activists about building a new party with a United front approach. Break from Labour and build a real workers party.”In another post, the group declared: “Victory to the [bin] workers we need a new working class party to run Birmingham city Council!”The Labour-led council was humiliated on Monday when striking workers rejected their latest pay offer, with fresh talks on Wednesday also ending without agreement.Unite described the council’s proposal as “totally inadequate”.MORE LIKE THIS:Bin workers ‘poised to strike across ENTIRE country’ amid Birmingham crisis’You’re shielding them!’ BBC bias row erupts after presenters fail to point out Labour’s role in Birmingham bin strike chaosBirmingham bin strike misery to continue as union rejects council dealCouncil leader John Cotton said on Thursday that images of the strikes “pained me personally”.Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner had urged Unite to accept a “significantly improved offer” to end the month-long crisis, which has seen rats running through mountains of bin bags.The dispute was triggered by the council’s decision to remove waste recycling and collection officers from its fleets, according to Unite.The union warns this would lead to affected workers losing £8,000 in salary, describing it as a “safety-critical role”.The bankrupt council, now overseen by government commissioners, claims only 17 staff members could lose the maximum amount, which it says is £6,000, not £8,000.About 130 affected staff have reportedly accepted roles in other parts of the council on the same pay grade.A Unite spokesman told the Telegraph that the union remains affiliated to Labour but added: “It is no surprise.. that people are questioning Labour’s position because of the situation in Birmingham.”The union’s community branches consist of local campaigners rather than official representatives and do not speak for Unite as a whole.Unite members voted to maintain their links with the party in July 2023.The union cut its funding to Labour and refused to endorse the party’s manifesto at last year’s general election.Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “How can anyone be asked to lose a quarter of pay? These workers have mortgages, rent and food bills to pay.”She added: “I stand ready to meet John Cotton and indeed Angela Rayner anytime over Easter. Rather than walking through rubbish with high vizzes on, let’s get this issue dealt with for workers and the community of Birmingham.”Birmingham has experienced similar disputes before, with bin workers staging walkouts in 2017 and 2019.

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