Birmingham City Council is to remove the city’s logo from vehicles used by highways maintenance staff because it fears a public backlash over media reports of some workers receiving extraordinarily high wages could end in violence.
The council workers union Amicus has attacked the authority for refusing to agree a joint statement regarding what they call ‘grossly inaccurate press stories’ about employees who are also Amicus representatives. It is furious because it says personal and confidential details have been leaked. It is considering bringing a claim on behalf of the two Amicus representatives of victimisation for carrying out their trade union activities.
The decision to remove the logo follows the news that staff are raking in huge payouts, which was leaked last month. A document revealed the head of traffic light maintenance earned £91,000 – including £20,000 in stand-by payments alone. This exceeds the annual income of council leader Mike Whitby, who earns £67,000, by £24,000 (Surveyor, 12 October).
Since the pay deals became public knowledge other workers fixing traffic lights in the city have reported cars slowing down and insults and threats being yelled.
Representatives from both Amicus and Unison had threatened to take industrial action if the authority had not acted.
Amicus national officer for local authorities, John Allot, said: ‘It doesn’t take a bright spark to figure out there is someone out there with an agenda. It is no secret our members who have been attacked in the press have been at the forefront of the campaign to keep Birmingham City councils' electrical engineering out of the private sector.’
A spokesman for the council said it ‘deplores’ the publication of information concerning individual staff. He hoped the council would be able to put its logo back on vehicles when the furore had died down.