Workers at Birmingham charity Asylum Support and Immigration Resource Team (ASIRT), which announced last month it is to close, are to stage a day of strike action on December 21.

Members of the United Voices of the World (UVW) union want the charity to halt plans to shut down “and instead keep providing vital services to the migrant and refugee communities in Birmingham”.

They also want management at the charity to recognise the union and allow it to collectively bargain “for better working conditions and pay”, the union said in a statement.

“Our members see no credible reason to dissolve this much needed service, UVW calls on the labour movement to back our members to save a crucial legacy of the anti-racist struggles of the people of Birmingham and assert the right of charity workers to organise,” said UVW organiser.

UVW member Eve Phillips, who is an immigration caseworker at the charity alleges that “undocumented people across the West Midlands, who use and need this legal support service, have been entirely disregarded by Trustees”.

“The trustees have consistently refused transparency or to meaningfully consult with workers in any ways that could prevent the charity’s closure, for example by hearing our ideas about how the responsibilities of the director, a role to which they’ve failed to recruit, could be met in other ways, utilising the experience and expertise of the workers.

“We are striking in solidarity with the people we work with and advocate on behalf of every day.”

The charity is set to close by Spring 2023 and trustees aim to transition the delivery of services to partner organisations “who have a strong foundation, share our values and can provide long-term security for the provision”.

A statement from trustees released last month added: “The decision to close now enables us to manage closure in a planned way and protect those who come to us for help.

“Failure to take this difficult decision now would lead us to a scenario in the near future where the charity is forced to close and services would cease overnight.”

ASIRT has been contacted for comment about the planned strike action.

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