A strike by bin workers in Birmingham is set to continue after the latest pay offer by the city council was "overwhelmingly" rejected.It follows a month-long stand-off between members of the Unite union and the Labour-run authority as bin bags and fly-tipped rubbish have piled high on streets.Unite said the city council's "partial" offer was "totally inadequate" and did not address the potential pay cuts for 200 drivers.The council has previously said the offer on the table was a fair one.The dispute centres around the council's decision to remove Waste Recycling and Collection Officer roles.
The union argued that it was an important health and safety role and about 170 affected workers faced losing up to £8,000 annually due to the decision, with hundreds more losing out on the prospect of pay progression.A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said the vote was "incredibly disappointing" but the authority's "door remains open".They claimed Unite's proposals focused on retaining a role that did not exist at other councils and could open up the council to more equal pay claims as refuse collection is a job overwhelmingly performed by men.
Speaking last week, councillors said with those deals in place no worker "need lose a penny".However, on Monday, Mr Kasab said the result of the ballot was proof that the dispute was more than "simply about 17 workers" - a number previously quoted by the council.This is about huge pay cuts and hundreds of people, it's time now for us all to sit down, no more negative briefing, and let's reach a negotiated resolution and solution.One refuse collector told on Monday that the mood among their colleagues was "powerful", while another said their sentiments remained unchanged.
Sadia Khan, the chairperson of Friends of Spark Green Park, said while she sympathised with those on strike, "rejecting another offer is just going to make the whole population a lot sicker".She said dead cats had been found in parks and that she suspected it was due to them eating rat poison left out to reduce the growing problem of vermin.He know it's a financial crisis people are struggling to manage, and everyone deserves a better wage, but there's a limit to how long this can go on.Last week, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was very concerned by the public health situation in Birmingham.
The local authority is facing criticism, meanwhile, for pressing ahead with plans to switch from weekly to fortnightly collections while the strike remains unresolved.The leaflets state residents will have a new green recycling bin to be collected fortnightly, a food bin to be collected weekly, and a black bin to be collected fortnightly on alternate weeks to recycling collections.Although an all-out strike began on 11 March, there have been a series of on-off walkouts since January and some residents have told the BBC they have not had recycling collected in 2025.
Madina Mammadova\\EDnews
