It is not just Birmingham which stinks right now, but the sheer incompetence of both Unite and Labour to reach a compromise that has brought misery to its residents. Together, they have succeeded in ruining the city's summer.
Unite has caused unjust disruption for no reason at all. Their entire campaign against Birmingham City Council has been based on nothing but a lie. The trade union claimed that refuse workers were being landed with pay cuts worth £5,000. The City Council refuted this statement and has only tried to modernise the service by scrapping grade three workers to achieve efficiency savings.
Unite has alienated the city's residents against them
Unite says this is a victory, but that is also false. It was forced to accept a compromise, which was to ask its own members to consider the option of refuse workers accepting a five-day week instead of working the current four. The only outcome the trade union has managed to achieve in this mess is bringing Birmingham's waste services to a complete halt. They have alienated the city's residents against them.
Kathryn Stanczyszyn, a political reporter at the BBC, said the City Council's leader, Councillor John Clancy, has been "pivotal" in this quick development following seven weeks of stalemate. Unite said he has "worked very hard and travelled the extra mile to achieve this solution." However, that is a complete misrepresentation.
One source disclosed to Blasting News that Councillor Clancy has been on holiday at one point during this crisis. Councillor Ian Cruise of the Longbridge area of Birmingham said he has had his head buried in the sand for too long and that Councillor Clancy hoped this crisis would go away. Yet it didn't. Councillor Roger Harmer, the deputy leader of the City Council's Liberal Democrat group, said the Labour leadership has been forced to climb down after confirming that a supervisor loader role will be retained, despite originally arguing the job was costly.
Damaging publicity to the city
As Councillor Deidre Alden, Conservative Spokesperson for Cleaner Streets, Recycling and the Environment, said: "This has caused damaging publicity to the city." Many people will not visit Birmingham until this problem has been resolved. The City Council will not confirm its official position until after a Special Cabinet Meeting on August 24th.
What if Unite disprove of their position following that special meeting? This means they could change their minds and continue the strikes until Christmas. Residents have to wait almost another week for councillors to finally end the dispute altogether.
This has been a miserable summer for Birmingham. They have suffered for no reason. Labour deserve to lose in May's elections next year.
