Birmingham bin collections suspended as strike escalates with agency staff walkout
All bin collections across Birmingham have been suspended after the agency’s staff, originally brought in to maintain services during an ongoing bin strike, staged their own strike.
The protests, including one at the Smithfield warehouse near the city center that saw nearly 200 pickets, come at a time when allegations of bullying and harassment have been controversial.
Speaking at one of the demonstrations, Unite national chief officer Onay Kasab said that approximately 40 subcontracted workers participated in the protest due to health, safety and other concerns.
Mr Kasab also claimed the council had been presented with video evidence of a “blacklisting threat”.
“We are seeing increasing discord; more and more people are joining the strike,” he said.
Birmingham City Council has since described the bullying allegations as “unfounded” and said the investigation found no evidence of “blacklisting”.
Mr. Kasab described the agency staff joining regular workers on strike as an unprecedented move.
“As we continue the strike, sometimes there are disagreements in which a small number of people participate; it is out of our control for the subcontracted workers brought in to break the strike to actually vote, vote and go on strike themselves,” he said.
“And that tells you a lot about how Birmingham City Council has mishandled this dispute.
“We need negotiations. None of us want to see this conflict escalate. None of us want to see even one more day of strike action.
“There is an end here. There is a solution here. All we need are negotiations. It can be solved, that’s what’s frustrating, but equally we will stand by our members until we reach a solution.”
Asked whether the determination of the striking bin workers was as strong as when the all-out protest began in March, Mr Kasab replied: “The union’s determination is even stronger; the joining of agency workers means the conflict is getting stronger.
“Our union will support our members until the end, starting from the General Secretary.”
Your party MP Zarah Sultana was among those on the picket line at the Smithfield warehouse to support the strikers.
“I’m here as a proud member of Unite the Union, I’m here as the MP for Coventry South, bringing solidarity from Coventry,” he said.
“I was proud to stand on the picket line when Coventry workers were on strike and I am proud to stand with you this morning as this is an attack on the workers who keep this city clean, who keep this city running.
“No one will accept an £8,000 pay cut in a cost of living crisis.”
Unite said agency workers voted in favor of strike action “in the face of bullying, harassment and threats of blacklisting in the council’s waste department two weeks ago”.
In a statement published on social media on Monday, Birmingham City Council said: “Due to expected mass strikes and protests at our waste depots we have taken the decision to suspend collections today.
“We apologize for the inconvenience. Collections will continue tomorrow.
“We aim to complete all collections by Sunday.”
The local authority has previously said it understands a small number of agency staff are involved in a separate dispute with the Job & Talent agency, which has a contract to support the council’s waste operations.
The council said the agency’s staff played an important role in providing a consistent waste service.
“Whilst we are disappointed that the dispute has not been resolved as Unite has rejected all our offers, we continue to carry out regular waste collections and our contingency plan is working,” he said in a statement.
“We collect an average of 1,330 tonnes of kerbside waste every day, which is more than we collected before industrial action and in the last six months we have collected over 100,000 tonnes of kerbside waste.
“The town council has contingency plans and will continue to try to ensure residents are cared for with at least one collection per week.
“In the meantime, we continue to move forward with service improvements that are long overdue and needed by our residents.”
In response to allegations of alleged blacklisting, the council said it “does not condone any actions that are contrary to legislation and good employment practice”, adding that a full investigation was immediately launched.
“This has now been concluded and it has been determined that there has been no blacklisting,” the statement said.
