Unite Union's National Lead Officer Onay Kasab has warned of national strikes by refuse workers after rejecting Birmingham City Council's "inadequate" deal.
More than 95 per cent of striking Unite workers rejected the offer laid out by the Labour-run authority, despite more than 20,000 tonnes of waste rotting on Birmingham's streets.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said that the dispute is "not about greed or increased pay".
She added: "This dispute is about workers losing up to £8,000 of their pay - which for some is almost a quarter."
Unite Union boss Onay Kasab has warned of national refuse worker strikes after rejecting Birmingham City Council's offer
GB News
Speaking to GB News, Unite Union boss Onay Kasab outlined their reasons for rejecting the deal, arguing that accepting the offer would mean a "sharp pay cut" for the majority of workers.
Kasab explained: "The offer - if we can call it an offer - is really inadequate. It deals with one very small area, it deals with a minority of people, and ultimately it means a pay cut.
"So when the council talk about nobody needs to lose pay, it is plain wrong. The proposal that they have put forward leads to a pay cut, it really is that straightforward and that simple."
Criticising the council's offer, Kasab claimed that certain factors mentioned in negotiations were "not mentioned in the proposal".
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Unite Union workers have gathered outside Birmingham City Council as the bin strikes rumble on
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Kasab told GB News: "In the proposal, they fail to discuss what they're going to do with the drivers, because in the negotiations, they told us that they are looking at downgrading drivers' pay. That goes down from £40,000 to £32,000 a year.
"That's around 200 people, and none of that was mentioned in the proposal. So we need to know what's going on with pay for drivers as well, and it's inadequate - that's why it was turned down."
Pressed by GB News reporter Jack Carson on why the union also rejected compensation payouts, Kasab stressed that it would have been a "lump sum" given to staff, and they will "still have a sharp pay drop" to deal with.
He said: "First of all, this is a lump sum. So not everybody's getting the £16,000, let's be very clear about that - it's for a minority of people. You can take that, but then you see a sharp drop in your pay, that's the reality.
Kasab told GB News that they will make 'no apology' in defending members
GB News
"So it may be pay protection for a little while, but you will then see a sharp drop in your pay. And also the fact that the driver's pay wasn't included in the proposal about what's going on there and what's happening."
Issuing a warning to the Labour Government, Kasab told GB News that Unite will continue to "defend members and pay conditions" up and down the country, and will make "no apology for it".
Kasab concluded: "The possibility of national strikes very much depends on employers. We're not going to go looking for industrial disputes.
"However, if local authorities or contractors who provide refuse services for local authorities insist that they are going to cut the pay and conditions of our members, then we make absolutely no apology for the fact that we will defend those members pay and conditions."
