Experts urging bin strikers and the Council to 'put public health first'
Unite the Union says strikes could go on until December 2025
Experts are calling on Birmingham City Council and bin strikers to 'put public health first' and resolve the bin strikes.
It comes as Unite the Union are warning industrial action could go on until December 2025, after the City Council agreed to walk away from negotiations.
What health risks do bin strikes pose?
Dr Martin Goldberg's a senior lecturer in Clinical Microbiology at Birmingham City University. He told us about the health risks the bin strikes have posed so far:
"There is the risk that comes with these bin bags getting punctured and then leaking onto the street. Raw foods can often be contaminated with strains of E.coli.
"Then comes the problem with flies, which are breeding in these bin bags at very high rates.
"The perfect breeding ground for diseases to erupt"
"The rats come next and bin bags left lying around is the perfect breeding ground for diseases to erupt. Rats can carry all kinds of disease," he said.
Unite the Union said their strike action could go on until December, almost 12 months on from the first piece of industrial action from bin workers.
Dr Martin said that the bin strikes now need resolving in the interest of public health:
"The main thing is that bin bags are disposed of"
"I am not concerned with the politics. The main thing is that bin bags are disposed of safely and correctly.
"In warm temperatures, bin bags lying around can be particularly dangerous.
"As temperatures go up, the organisms in rubbish grow much faster so the possibility of viruses spreading, just increases," he said.
"It absolutely is a public health issue"
Onay Kasab from Unite the Union said they understand Dr Martin's concerns:
"It absolutely is a public health issue. This just highlights how important a bin workers job is. It gives even more reason as to why we should not be cutting their pay.
"It is not the fault of the bin workers, strike action has been the last resort.
"We now need decision makers in the room, that is going to be crucial in resolving this dispute," he said.
"We have reached the absolute limit of what we can offer"
In a previous statement, Council Leader John Cotton said: "Throughout this process, the council has sought to be reasonable and flexible, but we have reached the absolute limit of what we can offer.
"We have negotiated in good faith but unfortunately Unite has rejected all offers so we must now press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service.
"This is a service that has not been good enough for a long time and we must improve it," he said.