Birmingham bin strikes escalate
Unite the Union says up to 350 workers are expected to walk out from tomorrow for 12 days this month
Strikes by more than 350 Birmingham bin workers will intensify from Tuesday, Unite, the UK’s leading union, announced today.
The dispute was sparked by the council’s decision to abolish the safety critical Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role, resulting in pay cuts of up £8,000 for 150 workers.
Birmingham’s refuse staff believe the scrapping of the WRCO role is the first step in a broader campaign of cuts across a service that is already on its knees.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “There is no justification for such huge pay cuts to workers’ wages. Birmingham council cannot just ignore this situation and hope that it will go away. It is a line in the sand for our members, who know more attacks will follow if they don’t fight back. Unite is with them 100 per cent.”
Strike action will now escalate from four to 12 days in February and from four to 13 days in March (see notes to editors for full dates). The escalation means that the next strike day begins tomorrow (4 February) rather than 7 February.
Since the council effectively declared bankruptcy in September 2023, refuse workers have accepted cuts to their pay and terms and conditions and worked with management in good faith to ensure services continued.
The council then, however, attacked the safety critical WRCO role. This is despite the service being massively over reliant on costly employment agencies because the council refuses to directly employ enough staff. Disgracefully, a number of refuse workers are employed through agencies, despite having performed the role for over a decade.
Unite regional officer Zoe Mayou said: “Unite’s door remains open to meaningful discussions with the council to resolving this dispute. It is the council that bears the responsibility for it escalating. Its behaviour towards its directly employed staff is vindictive and does nothing to solve the operational problems that are staring it in the face.”
Birmingham City Council said it was disappointed that the action was taking place, and assured residents it was "committed to resolving the situation in the best interest of all parties involved".