A dispute involving collection crew members of the Unite and Unison trade unions and the local authority came to an end last month following a settlement between the parties (see letsrecycle.com story).
This latest wave of industrial action concerned alleged payments made to workers who were members of the GMB trade union, who had not taken part in separate strike action in 2017. The council and the unions have this week said that the dispute has been resolved by way of ‘mutually acceptable settlement terms’ agreed between the three.
Joint Services Board
Following the settlement of the dispute, the council has established a ‘Joint Services Improvement Board’ including local authority and trade union representatives to address any future disputes with the workforce.
The council has also withdrawn comments made regarding the industrial action, in a joint statement issued this week.
Birmingham city council has also accepted that “at no stage in 2017 did either Unite or Unison attempt to prevent the council from discussing any intended role changes with the GMB,” as had been alleged.
Payments
In the statement, the city council said: “Whilst the council maintains that any payment made to GMB refuse workers, arising from the dispute in 2017, was made in good faith and following internal and external legal advice, the council accepts that such payments had unintended consequences and is committed to working with all of the unions to ensure that a cohesive and positive working environment exists going forward.
“All parties are committed to working together to provide a waste service that the people of Birmingham can be proud of and to this end are pleased to announce that the settlement terms have seen the creation of a working group to include council officers, trade union representatives and councillors, to ensure future disagreements can be resolved transparently and by discussion.”
Joint Statement
Council and trade unions
“BCC [Birmingham city council] further retracts commentary that was made in a recent Cabinet report wherein it was incorrectly said that Unite had declared a willingness to take industrial action even if a court declared the action to be unlawful. BCC apologises for this commentary.”
On the future delivery of the city’s waste collection service, the statement added: “All parties are committed to working together to provide a waste service that the people of Birmingham can be proud of and to this end are pleased to announce that the settlement terms have seen the creation of a working group (the Joint Services Improvement Board), to include council officers, trade union representatives and councillors, to ensure future disagreements can be resolved transparently and by discussion.”
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