Unite accused of ‘targeting’ school linked to councillor

The leader of Birmingham City Council has accused the union representing the city’s striking bin workers of “targeting” the school attended by the children of the councillor in charge of waste.

Council leader John Cotton asked for an apology from Unite following the incident – the circumstances of which the union strongly denies.

He said it was right that councillors themselves were held to account, but claimed that a school attended by the children of Majid Mahmood had been “targeted” by the union.

Unite said it visited the school to gather signatures of support by parents, but did not know that the councillor’s children attended and said it was “simply a coincidence”.

The BBC had asked Cotton about the disruption of a city council meeting last week, and whether anger over the industrial action had taken its toll on him.

He said: “It’s quite right that people who are elected are held to account and questioned but what I do think is absolutely out of order has been the targeting of people’s families.

“For instance, I know that my cabinet member responsible for the waste service Majid Mahmood has been in a situation where the school that his kids go to has been targeted. That ain’t on and that is not appropriate.”

Cotton added that he wanted an apology from Unite.

“I speak also as a trade union member myself,” he added.

“I think the vast majority of rank and file trade union members would not consider that kind of behaviour to be appropriate.

“By all means, challenge us over our decisions and what we do as politicians but leave our families out of it.”

In a legal letter issued to the BBC, lawyers for Unite said its members had visited four schools in the past week, but they had nothing to do with specific pupils or parents.

It said any suggestion of targeting families would be “anathema” to its members and that it had attended at the schools to hand out leaflets – which it said was a “legitimate campaigning activity”.

It added that on the day it went to Mr Mahmood’s children’s school it had also visited another school, and that “at both locations, the schools and parents of children were very welcoming” and had “engaged positively” with the union members present.

They added their client “does not know where anyone’s children go to school”.

The new row comes as Birmingham’s all-out bin strike enters its 15th week.

It is not the first time the union’s activities have been questioned.

Delayed bin collections during the initial weeks of the strike were down partly to picket lines blocking trucks from leaving waste facilities.

Striking workers insisted they were only stopping lorries if they had safety concerns, but policing was for a time increased around depots and more recently an injunction was granted in the High Court to prevent picketers from delaying waste crews.

Unite has always insisted that the actions of members on picket lines were lawful and peaceful.

Unite’s lawyers said their client was involved in “significant campaigning efforts within the community” and this involved visiting schools to meet and have dialogue with local residents. It said these were “friendly and relaxed” events, adding that this week their members reported having obtained 150 signatures from parents in support.

“If… any councillor has seen staff or members of our client outside their children’s school, that is simply a coincidence,” a letter sent to the BBC read.

“Any more general allegation of ‘targeting families’ is also untrue.”

Conciliatory talks between the local authority and Unite, chaired by the arbitration service Acas, have so far failed to reach a solution both sides can agree on.