Contrary to some claims circulating on social media, the government has not called soldiers in to clear up Birmingham’s streets.
Local bin workers have been on strike since March 11 in a long-running dispute with the city council over their salaries with the city council – and just today rejected a “totally inadequate” pay offer.
In the meantime, rubbish has been building up across the city, triggering widespread fears of a public health emergency which has led to an explosion in the local rat population.
The government has now decided to call in military personnel – meaning office-based army planners – to help with the crisis.
But some on social media have interpreted that to mean soldiers will soon be walking through Birmingham on a clean-up mission.
However, as deputy prime minister Angela Rayner clarified this afternoon, this does not mean there will be “boots on the ground”.
“There’s no boots on the ground, let me be very clear, we’ve deployed a couple of army logistics to help with the logistical operation of clearing up the rubbish,” she said today.
“We’ve got over two-thirds of the rubbish cleared off the streets now, this week we’ll start to see cleaning up the pavements and streets as well as the clearance of all of that rubbish, I’m very pleased about that.
“The kids are off school, obviously it’s Easter holidays, we want that rubbish cleared.”
She continued: “We’ll continue to work with the council to bring down the costs and the liabilities they had with equal pay, which is part of this process, and make sure that the workers are treated fairly as part of that process.”
Keir Starmer’s spokesperson also told reporters this morning that those called to help with the bin crisis are “purely office-based military personnel with operational planning expertise”.
More than 100 vehicles left the depots on Monday morning on a mission to clean up the streets, with 12,500 tonnes of waste cleared since April 4.
But, Unite has suggested the strike will continue after its members rejected the city council’s new offer, claiming it would have included “substantial” pay cuts for workers.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “For weeks, these workers have faced attacks from government and their employer pushing the lie that only a handful of workers are affected by the council’s plans to cut pay by up to £8,000.
“Instead of peddling untruths about these low paid workers and focusing on winning a media war, the government should have taken the time to check facts and used its office to bring the council to the table in a meaningful way.
“The rejection of the offer is no surprise as these workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision.”
#Government #Denies #Calling #Soldiers #Clear #Birmingham #Rubbish
Leave a Reply