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The head of the Unite union has branded Angela Rayner as ‘despicable’ for failing to back striking bin workers in Birmingham.
Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner has already been kicked out of Labour’s largest union paymaster over the bitter row, amid fury at her stance on the fiasco blighting Britain’s ‘second city’.
And now, in the latest deepening of the rift between Labour and Unite, the union’s general secretary Sharon Graham has issued a barbed broadside at Ms Rayner, claiming she had acted in a ‘despicable way’.
Ms Graham warned Labour’s current approach on pay, public services, and welfare risks alienating the working-class communities it was founded to represent.
‘This Labour government is unrecognisable. If they keep making the poorest pay while politicians claim more expenses, they will lose workers in droves,’ Ms Graham told Times Radio’s Chloe Tilley.
She confirmed the deputy PM’s membership in the union is effectively over after widespread anger from Unite members over her handling of the Birmingham dispute.
It comes as the union last night threatened to ‘re-examine its relationship’ with Labour over its refusal to side with workers who left the city streets strewn with rubbish and rats – in what could be potentially disastrous for Sir Keir Starmer.
‘Angela Rayner has been a Unite member for ten years. She was proud of that when she needed union support. But now, as workers face losing up to £8,000 a year, she is nowhere to be found,’ Ms Graham seethed.
She said no additional funds have been provided to Labour beyond statutory affiliation fees since her election as General Secretary.
‘My job is to fight for workers, not to make the Labour Party look good,’ she added. ‘If Labour continues to ignore the needs of working people, they will lose their connection to those they claim to represent.’
The news comes as Labour accused Unite of engaging in ‘silly stunts’ after its annual conference voted to suspend the membership of the Deputy PM, who said the spring walk-out had caused ‘misery’ for locals.
Labour insists the workers’ pay demands discriminated against female council workers.
‘Angela’s not interested in stilly stunts, she’s interested in changing workers’ lives,’ a source said last night.
‘Unite rejected a deal in Birmingham and their demands would have undermined equal pay, discriminating against female workers. Angela won’t be pushed around, and she quit Unite some months ago.
‘Angela’s been fighting for equal pay for decades as a trade unionist and as a home care worker has experienced what it was like to be paid less as a working class woman for the same work.’
Unite insists Ms Rayner remains a member and can therefore be suspended. But it sets the scene for a summer of Labour fights with unions, with Health Secretary Wes Streeting locked in a battle with junior doctors.
On Friday, Ms Graham warned the union would ‘call out bad employers regardless of the colour of their rosette’.
‘Angela Rayner has had every opportunity to intervene and resolve this dispute but has instead backed a rogue council that has peddled lies and smeared its workers fighting huge pay cuts,’ she said.
‘The disgraceful actions of the government and a so-called Labour council, is essentially fire and rehire and makes a joke of the Employment Relations Act promises.
‘People up and down the country are asking whose side is the Labour government on and coming up with the answer not workers.’
It is not the first time Unite has threatened to pull its money when it has not got its way.
Bin workers walked out in March over planned pay changes by the cash-strapped city council.
Unite said the deal would have included ‘substantial’ pay cuts for workers and did not address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers.
People living in the city say their health suffered from the stench of piling waste while ‘cat-sized’ rats raided the mounting rubbish outside their homes.
Visiting the city in April with Local Government Minister, Jim McMahon, Ms Rayner said: ‘The people of Birmingham are our first priority – this dispute is causing misery and disruption to residents and the backlog must be dealt with quickly to address public health risks.
‘My department is working with Birmingham City Council to support its response to accelerate clearing the backlog and rapidly improve the situation on the ground. Neighbouring authorities are providing additional vehicles and crews, and we are providing logistical support.
‘I have pressed both sides to negotiate at pace to urgently find a resolution. There is now a better offer on the table and I would urge Unite to suspend the action and accept the improved deal so we achieve fairness for both workers and residents of this city.’
Earlier this year the Mail revealed this week that Union bosses behind strikes which have left the streets of Birmingham piled high with rotting waste are directing the action from outside of the city – in leafy suburbs with regular bin collections.
A Downing Street spokesman said the Government’s priority throughout the dispute had ‘always’ been Birmingham’s residents.
The strikes have resulted in unsanitary conditions throughout the city, with large piles of rubbish in the streets.
The No 10 spokesman also told reporters: ‘As you know, Unite’s industrial action caused disruption to waste collection.
‘We have worked intensively with the council to tackle the backlog and clean up the streets for the residents for public health.
‘We remain in close contact with the council and continue to monitor the situation as we support its recovery and transformation
‘I think it’s important to look back to the context of this dispute: Unite is in dispute against Birmingham City Council’s decision to reform unfair staff structures, which were a major cause of unequal pay claims and left the council liable to hundreds of millions of pounds in claims, and that was a key factor cited in the council section 114 notice in 2023, declaring bankruptcy.’
Shadow communities secretary Kevin Hollinrake said Ms Rayner ‘faces a serious conflict of interest, having accepted thousands of pounds from the Unite union to fund her general election campaign’.
He added: ‘Unions like Unite rarely offer financial support without expecting something in return — and we’re already seeing the consequences in their aggressive demands to dismantle key trade union laws.
‘It’s time for all Labour ministers and the Labour-led council to take a firm stand against these militant unions. A good place to start would be suspending taxpayer-funded ”facility time” for Unite while their members are on strike.’
