The news that agency workers brought in to empty Birmingham’s bins have now voted to down tools themselves has triggered a furious response.
The ongoing strike saw huge mountains of rubbish pile up during its height, attracted unwanted headlines from around the world, and inflicted a financial cost of least £14 million on the city council.
A dispute between the Labour-run council and Unite the union, initially over the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role, sparked the industrial action which is closing in on a year of strike action in January.
Unite confirmed this week that a number of agency staff who are also members have voted to join official picket lines from December 1 amid claims of a “bullying workplace culture” at the council’s refuse department
“This is a real escalation in the dispute with agency workers now joining picket lines due to the terrible way they have been treated by Job&Talent [agency] and Birmingham Council,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.
Birmingham City Council previously denied the union’s claims about the department and said it did not “condone any actions which are contrary to legislation and good employment practice.”
The local authority also said this week that it has “contingency plans” and “will continue to look to maintain residents with a minimum of one collection a week”.
But this has not stopped a tidal wave of anger towards the council in Birmingham, as Unite warns the bin strikes could continue into Christmas and then beyond May’s local elections.
Resident Gerry Moynihan, from the Bordesley Green area, said rubbish was still being fly-tipped in the east of the city.
“If the agency staff go on strike, it is going to cause immense difficulty in the city including potential health hazards,” he argued.
“It is time the government stepped in to resolve the dispute and salvage what is left of Birmingham’s reputation.”
Conservative councillor Robert Alden, the leader of the opposition, suggested that Birmingham Labour had “completely lost control of the council”.
“Only the Local Conservatives have put forward an alternative strategy to end the bin strikes, balance the books and clean up the city,” he said.
“The council has destroyed the reputation of Birmingham over the last year.
“Under Labour, industrial strife is spiralling and everyday residents are paying the price for the council’s mistakes.”
Roger Harmer, Liberal Democrat group leader at the council, said the latest update was “another blow to the long-suffering residents of Birmingham”.
“It is also another failure of the Labour leadership of the council, to add to the countless number of failures in recent years, which has left Birmingham poorer, dirtier and with our reputation in tatters,” he said.
“Our city is crying out for change and the Liberal Democrats will deliver that following the elections next year.”
Green Party councillor Julien Pritchard suggested that Birmingham Labour needs to “make way” for those who can “make a fair deal to resolve the strike”.
“Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Birmingham residents, Labour manage it again,” he said.
“The Labour-run council’s complete inability to manage industrial relations means yet more workers are now striking.
“Residents face the prospect of even dirtier streets – and once again it will be the most forgotten and left-behind parts of the city that will suffer the most.”
The bins strike dispute has seen striking workers repeatedly raise concerns about pay while the council’s leadership has argued that a “fair and reasonable” offer had been made.
A city council spokesperson said on Monday: “While we are disappointed the dispute has not been resolved as Unite has rejected all our offers, we are continuing to make regular waste collections and our contingency plan is working.
“We have been collecting an average of approximately 1,330 tonnes of kerbside waste every day, more than we did prior to industrial action, and over the last six months we have collected over 100,000 tonnes of kerbside waste.
They continued: “There has been a 22 per cent increase in tonnage of waste collected per employee and a 52 per cent improvement regarding missed collections.
“A small number of agency staff are in a separate dispute with Job & Talent. The city council has contingency plans and will continue to look to maintain residents with a minimum of one collection a week.
“Meanwhile we continue to move forward with the service improvements that are long overdue and that our residents need.”
The council has highlighted that the bin strike is still listed as a ‘major incident’ so could call in extra resources and support if required.
A spokesperson for Job&Talent told the BBC it remained “firmly committed to operating with transparency, integrity, and full compliance with employment laws”.
“We prioritise the rights, welfare, and safety of our workers and maintain regular communication to ensure they feel supported,” they said.
It added it took any allegation concerning worker welfare and safety extremely seriously, and would not “tolerate intimidation or threats against workers for exercising their rights, including participation in industrial action”.
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