Bin workers in Birmingham began a 12-day strike this week with residents warned to expect “considerable disruption” across the city. Birmingham Live readers have been expressing their frustration with the situation in our comments section.
The industrial action was called after crunch talks over pay between Unite, the union representing refuse workers, and Birmingham City Council broke down. The strikes will run on selected days from January to April.
According to Unite, the council has “refused to reverse or delay the implementation of attacks on workers’ pay” and has decided to abolish the safety-critical Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role, which many affected workers have held for decades. The union describes the WRCO roles as “safety critical.”
A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council said: “We are disappointed that this action is taking place, but we are continuing to work through the dispute resolution procedure. We would like to assure residents that we will do all we can to minimise disruption during any potential industrial action.”
Commenter TheRightReverend says: “Our road has had all their bins collected and emptied today (6 Jan) as per a normal service. I don’t know what’s going on but the last ones to know about either a normal service or days of strikes are the residents who pay their council tax!”
Avfcfrank agrees: “Just seen my mate, who drives the bin trucks and he worked Saturday & Sunday in the snow and freezing rain, was in work today as normal and is in work tomorrow – he says while some are striking, there are many working and doing collections still.”
Kerfluffle thinks: “So here we go again. Looking from the outside seems like a small number of people who’ve had an excellent financial deal for many years are upset that it’s coming to an end. Can’t see how striking is going to help as change will happen with or without them here. And the union need to come up with how this £8k pay cut is worked out as it sounds suspiciously high to me.”
Paul-sg states: “I am genuinely amazed that these guys have the bald nerve to strike for even more money, considering how much they already get for doing an unskilled job. Which is often not done particularly well. They are obviously aware of how much council tax payers are having to cough up to cover BCC expenditure and they are deliberately making the situation worse. Why should they have more money for nothing, while the rest of us are worse off, partly because of them?”
Dominion agrees: “Having one of the most secure and reasonably paid jobs by Birmingham City Council these workers will get little sympathy and support from the general public.”
Banks82 adds: “I think if the residents of Birmingham had been provided a better service over recent years, these workers would have much more support. With a 10% Council Tax increase last year, and another this year, residents deserve a much better service than is currently being provided. I’ve lost count of the number of missed collections I’ve had to report in the last 12 months, and they NEVER get collected before the next due date. Communication from the council to residents when collections have been missed has been shambolic, even councillors have been fobbed off. BCC is in a right state, equal pay liabilities, massive cuts to essential services for the vulnerable. I think moving to one of our neighbouring counties is now the only sensible option. It’s shambolic!”
Mn05 writes: ”I understand that Unite is the only union amongst those whose staff are affected that doesn’t get the message that ‘Equal Pay’ does mean that when job re-evaluation is carried out, the remuneration for some roles has to be rationalised so may actually go down to achieve that “Equal Pay” status. They prattle about ‘Equal Pay’ only providing equalisation downwards doesn’t affect their members. Other union members have already come to terms with the re-evaluation, it’s only Unite who are the ostriches with their heads in the sand, so it’s no wonder that their credibility is questioned by the wider public.”
Do you support the bin strikes? Have you been affected by non-collections? Have your say in our comments section.