Birmingham City Council declared a major event to address the impact on ongoing strikes of bin workers that have resulted in around 17,000 tons of waste not being collected.
The council stated that pickets of Unite members on strike have prevented waste collection vehicles from leaving depots in order to collect waste from local residents. The council said that it was often only able to get one vehicle out of the depot per hour.
Birmingham had contingency plans in place to collect waste from all properties once a week. However, the picket lines have stopped this. This has led to concerns about the risks to the public’s health and the damage to the environment.
Declaring an incident major allows the council the opportunity to add 35 additional vehicles and crews for street cleaning and fly-tip collection in the city.
Councillor John Cotton said, “It is regrettable that we had to take such a step, but it’s not acceptable that a situation causes harm and distress in communities throughout Birmingham.”
“I respect the rights to strike and protest. However, actions on a picket must be legal and unfortunately, the behaviour of some has now led us to see a significant impact upon residents and the environment in the city.
We would not be able to improve the frequency of collection or clear the backlog in waste collected on the street unless we declared a major event and deployed the waste service contingency plan.
The council deploys 200 vehicles in eight-hour shifts. The contingency plan allows for 90 vehicles a day, but because pickets block depots they are deployed later, and so work periods are shorter.
“Normally, we would collect well over 500,000 items per week. “Our strike contingency is 360,000 but because of the blockade at depots, we are far below that,” said the statement.
“Fair and reasonable”
Cotton said: “I would like to thank the residents for their patience and community groups that have worked hard to clear up the mess in their localities.
“I would like to reiterate that we made a fair, reasonable offer to all of our employees. This means they have not lost any money. I would encourage Unite to reconsider its position.”
Unite claimed that Birmingham Council is willing to “throw a lot more money down the drain” than what it would take to resolve the major incident. The council, Unite said, was trying to suppress any opposition against attacks on jobs and pay, as well as conditions, which are set to be extended to other employees across the council.
Unite and the council have been at odds over the removal of waste recycling officers (WRCOs) from their roles. Unite claims that the pay and conditions of bin workers who earn little more than minimum wage had been reduced before the current dispute. This included a cut of PS1,000 for shift pay.
The removal of the WRCO position will result in a pay cut of up to PS8,000 for around 150 workers.
Bin women and men began intermittent strikes over plans to reduce some staff’s pay and downgrade them in January. On 11 March, approximately 400 workers began a permanent walkout after Unite claimed that Birmingham Council used agency staff to collect waste.
The council stated: “We reject any claim that agency workers were doing work normally done by strikers. We continue to use the same number agency workers during days of strike action as on normal working days.
“Demotions and Pay Cuts”
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham stated: “Birmingham Council could easily resolve this conflict, but it appears hell-bent on imposing their plan of demotions & pay cuts at any cost. They don’t care if it means spending more money than would be needed to settle the strike fairly.
This massive pay cut is just the beginning. It is meant to eliminate any opposition to Birmingham’s plans for austerity 2.0.
“I urge Birmingham Council to rethink its disastrous strategy, and find a solution that does not make workers and communities pay for the mistakes of politicians. Unite will not accept any attacks on its members, and will continue to defend Birmingham refuse workers to the fullest extent.
Birmingham City Council has been under the watchful eye of government commissioners ever since 2023 when it published a notice under section 114 Local Government Act, effectively declaring bankruptcy after a PS760million liability for equal-pay claims.
Subscribe to our weekly HR news and guidance
Every Wednesday, receive the Personnel Today Direct newsletter.
Personnel Today: HR roles in local and national governments
Browse HR roles in local and national governments
