BIRMINGHAM BIN STRIKE CALLED OFF

UNITE, Britain and Ireland’s largest union, has called off the Birmingham bin strike that was set for Friday 8 March after a new deal was tabled.

A ‘heads of settlement agreement’ has been drawn up between Unite and Birmingham city council. This is the first time that an agreement that meets the union’s expectations has been put on the table.

Strike suspended

As a consequence and to allow Birmingham’s cabinet to discuss the proposed offer the strike action scheduled for tomorrow has been suspended.  If the cabinet approves the deal than the bins strike concerning ‘secret payments' and the ‘blacklisting’ of Unite members will have concluded.

Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett said:  'The heads of settlement is a real breakthrough in negotiations.
'For the first time there is a deal on the table which meets Unite’s members expectations, it is now imperative that Birmingham council’s cabinet signs up to the deal.
'I am sure that Birmingham residents will be keeping their fingers crossed that the cabinet does the right thing and this long running dispute is finally brought to a close.'

Three days of action

Since the dispute started there have been three days of strike action. An overtime ban and a work to rule have been in place since the end of December 2018.

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