ANGELA Rayner has been suspended from the trade union Unite.
Delegates at the union’s conference voted to suspend her membership over her role in the Birmingham bin strike.
It is a significant blow to the Labour chief, as she is seen as one of the few remaining “soft left” figures at the top table.
Sharon Graham (below), Unite’s general secretary, said: “Unite is crystal clear it will 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.
“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.”
Bin workers in Birmingham walked out in January and have been on an all-out strike since March, leading to mountains of rubbish piling up in the streets of England’s second biggest city.
It was reported earlier this week that some bin lorry drivers are facing the threat of compulsory redundancy.
Workers had walked out after Unite warned that 170 staff members would face a wage cut of up to £8000 per year.
The union has also voted to “discuss” its relationship with Labour if Birmingham council pushes through bin worker redundancies.
Rayner’s department, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, has previously said that the union should suspend the strike.
Members at Unite’s conference in Brighton on Friday voted on an emergency motion to suspend Rayner’s membership of the union as well as that of Birmingham council leader John Cotton and other councillors in the city.
They were accused of “bringing the union into disrepute” and face an investigation into their behaviour with a “view to expelling them from the union”.
