‘Residents have had to deal with mounting piles of rubbish for a year now’ – Conservative opposition leader
Labour-run Birmingham council’s “refusal to lead” has made Birmingham “synonymous with images of rats and rubbish,” a Tory councillor said today as the city’s bin worker industrial action reached the one-year mark.
On January 6, 2025, bin workers started their one-day strike, which led to an all-out strike on March 11.
The strikes, initiated by the Unite union, were triggered by fears that up to 150 workers faced pay cuts of up to £8,000 a year.
Council plans to remove supervisors from the back of the waste collection vehicles were also claimed to make the job more dangerous.
Subsequent strike action led to piles of uncollected waste all over the city, resulting in vast reputational damage as Birmingham made headlines worldwide for all the wrong reasons.
Comedy of errors
Contingency workers were drafted in to help, but many of these workers have since also gone on strike.
A year later, the union and the council remain in deadlock with a Government-appointed commissioner describing negotiations as “not viable.”
The Tory opposition’s view – ‘international reputation into the gutter’
Erdington Councillor Robert Alden, leader of the Birmingham Local Conservatives, said: “Residents have had to deal with mounting piles of rubbish for a year now, and the world has watched Birmingham Labour fail to keep the city clean, refuse to discuss ways to end the strike, and drag our international reputation into the gutter as Birmingham becomes synonymous with images of rats and rubbish.
“Meanwhile, the council leader continues to refuse to lead. The local Conservatives continue to call for the council and unions to put residents first and end the strike.
“If we take control of the council in May this year, we’ll reinstate weekly bin collections, create dedicated clean-up crews to tackle rubbish on the streets, and end the equal pay liabilities created by Labour.”
The council’s response – ‘forging ahead’ with a waste service transformation
Councillor Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We are now forging ahead with the transformation of the waste service, a service that has been poor for too long.
“The transformed service will bring Birmingham into line with other councils, improve recycling rates and provide a service our residents need and deserve.
“The council has engaged in negotiations with Unite for the past 12 months. Whilst we remain committed to reaching a negotiated settlement, Unite has rejected our fair and reasonable offers.
“We have also invited Unite on multiple occasions to make a proposal to end the strike, which we would fully and carefully consider, but they have declined to do so thus far. Our doors remain open for Unite to put forward constructive suggestions to resolve this dispute, and we want those taking strike action to return to work so we can continue delivering the waste services that the people of Birmingham expect and deserve.
‘We’re sorry’
“Despite the ongoing industrial action and the initial disruption, the contingency plan is working, and productivity has improved, with fewer complaints than prior to the strike; there has been a 52% improvement rate on missed collections and a 22% improvement on tonnage collected per employee.
“We know residents are frustrated, and we are sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate their patience.”
