Charlotte Benton
BBC News, West Midlands
Josh Sandiford
BBC Radio WM
BBC
Refuse workers lined up in front of the Tyseley depot on Tuesday morning
An indefinite all-out strike for bin workers in Birmingham is under way, as rubbish continues to pile up in the streets.
The action officially started at 06:00 GMT on Tuesday, however, collectors have been striking on and off since January following plans to downgrade some staff and reduce their pay.
Mahmoud Barreh who lives in Balsall Heath and has not had his bin collected for three weeks, said: “People are really worried, we pay high charges of council tax, which is going to rise in April, and feel Birmingham City Council is not doing their duty.”
Craig Cooper, from the authority said a “fair and reasonable consultation had been under way since last autumn”.
The indefinite action follows weeks of on and off striking from the city’s refuse workers
Mr Cooper, who is the strategic director of city operations, added that the authority was “keen to have a proper dialogue on how we transform this service”, but criticised the Unite Union for “only wanting to talk about the grade three role” which the authority wish to cut.
Speaking from a picket line in Tyseley, Zoe Mayou, who is the union’s regional officer, said the action had been escalated as the authority “aren’t willing to come to the table and have proper negotiations about the whole structure of the team”.
“We’re here because of the removal of the grade three role, it’s been designated as a safety-critical role in the past and it’s been removed without a thought of how the team is going to work”, Ms Mayou added.
Speaking to BBC Radio WM, Mr Cooper said the role “was not critical to health and safety” and emphasised that the responsibility sat with “every employee, not one person”.
He encouraged Unite to “take a look at how bin services operate around the county”, as the authority had taken advice from them, and called for it to “come back to the table”.
Mahmoud Barreh from Balsall Heath said the piles of rubbish are a health risk
The absence of regular waste collections has resulted in pavements piled high with rubbish bags, as well as rat infestations being reported in some parts of the city.
Mr Barreh, 58, said Balsall Heath was affected by bin strikes in 2017, however, the situation was “already far worse” than his previous experience.
“It’s already started to smell, long before today, it’s a risk to health and we are very worried that the industrial action is now indefinite.”
Craig Cooper from Birmingham City Council said despite the action, 90 lorries left the city’s depots on Tuesday
Mr Cooper said despite the strike action, 90 crews, compared to the normal 200, had left the city’s depots on Tuesday morning and asked residents to put their residual waste out as normal.
“It may not be collected on the day, but we will get there when we can and we will get it cleared”, he added.
