5 days ago
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Rubbish volition proceed rotting successful the streets of Birmingham for months, national chiefs person warned, aft much workers voted to articulation concern action.
Agency workers employed by Job&Talent are present joining the quality for the archetypal time, with the Unite union blaming "an epidemic of bullying, harassment and intimidation".
And with workers voting to widen the already months-long strike, the national says bins could spell uncollected beyond adjacent year's section elections successful May.
It comes aft footage obtained by Sky News captured a manager from Job&Talent informing bureau unit that those who articulation the onslaught would beryllium blacklisted by the council.
In the clip, helium says: "Those radical that bash determine to articulation the picket line, past the assembly person confirmed to america that they are not going to get a imperishable job."
Unite wide caput Sharon Graham added: "This is simply a existent escalation successful the quality with bureau workers present joining picket lines owed to the unspeakable mode they person been treated by Job&Talent and Birmingham council.
"The assembly is spending a luck it doesn't person connected a quality that could easy beryllium resolved by agreeing a just woody for workers.
"Unite does what it says connected the commercialized national tin; we are wholly committed to warring for the jobs, wage and conditions of each members.
"Agency and directly-employed workers alike successful Birmingham council's garbage work person the union's implicit and utter support."
A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: "While we are disappointed the quality has not been resolved arsenic Unite has rejected each our offers, we are continuing to marque regular discarded collections and our contingency program is working.
"We person been collecting an mean of astir 1,330 tonnes of kerbside discarded each day, much than we did anterior to concern action, and implicit the past six months we person collected implicit 100,000 tonnes of kerbside waste.
"There has been a 22 per cent summation successful tonnage of discarded collected per worker and a 52 per cent betterment regarding missed collections.
"A tiny fig of bureau unit are successful a abstracted quality with Job&Talent. The metropolis assembly has contingency plans and volition proceed to look to support residents with a minimum of 1 postulation a week.
"Meanwhile we proceed to determination guardant with the work improvements that are agelong overdue and that our residents need."
The assembly besides said it would not tolerate blacklisting, and had investigated the matter, but concluded nary blacklisting had taken place.
In a connection past week, Job&Talent responded to the leaked footage.
Read more:
No extremity successful show for bin onslaught aft six months
Birmingham bin strikes: How residents are taking action
The connection read: "Job&Talent is alert of a abbreviated video clip circulating online which shows a Job&Talent manager speaking to bureau workers astatine 1 of the city's garbage depots.
"The comments made successful the signaling were portion of a longer treatment and bash not bespeak the presumption of Job&Talent.
"We bash not prosecute successful oregon condone immoderate signifier of blacklisting, and nary idiosyncratic is oregon would beryllium denied employment opportunities connected the ground of lawful information successful concern action."
Unite said Job&Talent workers would beryllium capable to articulation the picket enactment from 1 December.
Bin workers person been locked successful a standoff with the assembly implicit projected wage cuts for astir of the year.
Union bosses accidental assembly plans volition permission 171 workers £8,000 worse disconnected a year.
Collections person been disrupted since January, but the enactment descended into an all-out onslaught successful March.
The assembly soon declared a large incidental and rubbish has continued to heap up crossed the metropolis arsenic the quality continues.
Unite claims determination person been nary ceremonial negotiations implicit ending the quality since May.
The union's pb officer, Onay Kasab, said: "Residents of Birmingham volition beryllium rightly acrophobic to spot that the misery of bin strikes tin proceed done Christmas, New Year and beyond May's section elections but the assembly is solely liable for the ongoing dispute.
"Unite remains afloat committed to instrumentality to meaningful negotiations to unafraid a just woody for affected workers portion besides ensuring the endemic bullying civilization and threats of blacklisting are stamped out."
In a statement, Job&Talent said: "We admit the ballot result and volition proceed moving intimately with our workers to code immoderate concerns.
"The effect reflects lone a tiny information of our wide workforce.
"As addressed previously, Job&Talent remains firmly committed to operating with transparency, integrity, and afloat compliance with employment laws."
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