Birmingham bin strike crisis continues as refuse workers reject ‘totally inadequate’ pay deal

Bin collectors in Birmingham have voted overwhelmingly to reject a “totally inadequate” deal aimed at ending a long-running strike, Unite announced.

The Army has been called in to help tackle the rubbish piling up on the streets, as action by refuse collectors continues as part of a dispute over pay.

The strike began on 11 March and has seen thousands of tonnes of rubbish go uncollected with local residents complaining of cat-sized rats amid warmings of a public health emergency.

Unite said the deal would have included “substantial” pay cuts for workers and did not address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “For weeks, these workers have faced attacks from government and their employer pushing the lie that only a handful of workers are affected by the council’s plans to cut pay by up to £8,000.

“Instead of peddling untruths about these low paid workers and focusing on winning a media war, the government should have taken the time to check facts and used its office to bring the council to the table in a meaningful way.

“The rejection of the offer is no surprise as these workers simply cannot afford to take pay cuts of this magnitude to pay the price for bad decision after bad decision.”

Military personnel helping Birmingham City Council with its response have not been deployed to collect rubbish, but a small number of office-based military planners have been called in by the Government to give short-term logistical support.

Speaking from Scunthorpe, Angela Rayner said: “There’s no boots on the ground, let me be very clear, we’ve deployed a couple of army logistics to help with the logistical operation of clearing up the rubbish.

“We’ve got over two-thirds of the rubbish cleared off the streets now, this week we’ll start to see cleaning up the pavements and streets as well as the clearance of all of that rubbish, I’m very pleased about that. The kids are off school, obviously it’s Easter holidays, we want that rubbish cleared.”

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