Angela Rayner has been blasted for ignoring striking workers in Birmingham after urging them to "accept the offer" put forward by the council.Britain's second city is being buried in around 21,000 tonnes of festering rubbish after bin workers from the Unite Union went on strike over pay cuts.FULL STORY HERE.
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00:00And Jack, is there hope on the horizon?
00:04Well, we'll see because Angela Rayner, of course, meeting in Birmingham yesterday with council leaders
00:09saying the Unite should accept this deal, urging them to do that, to end this strike action.
00:14She says that the council have made significant changes to the deal to accommodate what they say the workers require.
00:22But we're on the picket line in Periball this morning at this depot.
00:24You can see here all of the workers out here on the picket line, the Unite flags undervalued under attack.
00:29That's what the sign that Unite have had up all during this industrial dispute says.
00:33And these barriers as well also here that have been brought in by the police, the council say, to ensure that these lorries get out in the morning.
00:41But let's speak to Luke Dalton. He's a union rep and driver.
00:44Luke, Angela Rayner urging Unite to accept this deal. What's your response?
00:48Well, I'm a bit frustrated by that comment, to be honest.
00:51Now, Angela Rayner only intervened after our General Secretary wrote a letter.
00:55Now, we've been out here 12 weeks now, and she's urging us to accept a deal that isn't a complete deal anyway.
01:02Now, she was in Birmingham yesterday, and she failed to address anybody.
01:07She didn't come to any pickets to speak to anybody in regards to this.
01:11Now, this has become a two-pronged attack in regards to it's not just about the loaders.
01:16There are other things going on in the background.
01:18So what I would urge Angela Rayner to do is get the decision-makers into our meetings so that we can actually hash out a deal.
01:25We don't want to be out here any longer than we have to be.
01:28However, we're still being given puppets, and we're not getting the decision-makers in these interviews.
01:35And without the decision-makers being there, how can we make an informed decision?
01:39In light of the fact that they're making offers, perceived offers, but it's for half a deal.
01:48How can we accept half a deal?
01:50Now, there'll be a lot of public that will hope these strikes will end because of the rubbish that we're seeing on the streets,
01:55because of centres around a public health emergency with rats and vermin.
01:59What's your response to those people who would like to see this to an end because of what we're seeing around Birmingham?
02:03I definitely sympathise with the public. It's not what we want to see.
02:06The majority of us live in Birmingham. We've had the same experiences that they have.
02:11I can only apologise for the disruption that it's caused.
02:14Unfortunately, with the financial element to this, it's our job. We like to keep the city clean.
02:19But the financial element and the losses that they're going to accrue here, it's just not sustainable.
02:24So the only way that we can react is the way that we did, which was create disruption.
02:29And unfortunately, it took 12 weeks for any political intervention.
02:33And then all of a sudden, they want it done in five days.
02:37Now, we're prepared to stand out here as long as we need to, in order to get the right terms and conditions to protect everybody's futures.
02:44Luke, that's all we've got time for this morning. So thank you for joining us.
02:47That's the view from the picket line here.
02:49As you can see, Angela Rayning may urge these workers to accept this deal, but that is not the sense on this picket line.
02:55They, as you heard there, are prepared to keep going as long as it takes.
02:58Thanks very much.