Bin strike talks held on Thursday between Birmingham City Council and Unite were said to be ‘inconclusive’ – with tomorrow marking the 75th day since walkout-outs started
Mounting rubbish is set to continue blighting Britain’s second city with talks failing to halt bin strikes – as today marks the 75th day since walkout-outs started.
Nearly 400 refuse workers are locked in a bitter pay and jobs dispute with the cash-strapped Birmingham’s city council. An indefinite strike started on Tuesday last week, after on-off walkouts began in the New Year. Now talks held today were said to be “inconclusive” – meaning residents’ misery goes on. Rodents have been plaguing the city amid piling bin bags – with the Mirror last week joining a top rat-catcher on the streets.
The pest control expert told how he had seen kitten-sized rodents. Separately, it has emerged a mobile waste collection service this week had to be ended prematurely after being swarmed by people.
And a Tory MP whose constituency is in the West Midlands warned “rats the size of cats” were not welcome beyond the city’s boundaries. The BBC reported how a bin lorry was put on to collect rubbish in Birmingham. But word spread quickly and it was approached by so many in the city’s Moseley area on Wednesday that a concerned councillor called police.
West Midlands Police said it was called to reports of rubbish being dumped in the road by people, explaining officers continued to liaise with the council, the BBC reported. The mobile service had to be called off two hours early.
Conservative MP Wendy Morton told the Commons: “Local authorities such as Conservative-led Walsall are taking a really proactive and determined approach to tackling this, but with bin strikes on our doorstep in the neighbouring Labour-led Birmingham Council, we fear more fly-tipping, particularly in the communities that border Birmingham. Alarmingly, we’re hearing of rats the size of cats in Britain’s second city and, let’s be quite certain, the Squeaky Blinders are definitely not welcome in Aldridge-Brownhills.”
The MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, in Walsall, asked minister Mary Creagh what the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs could do to “support” authorities like Walsall which share a boundary with Birmingham. She also asked what ministers could do to help “bring the bin strikes to an end”.
Ms Creagh said resolving the strikes is “a matter to the council”, adding: “As a neighbouring MP in Coventry, we have not seen any of the fly-tipping that she talks about in Walsall. It certainly hasn’t occurred in Coventry. But what I would say is both sides need to get round the table and sort this out for the benefit of the people of Birmingham.”
The first walkout took place on January 6 – meaning Thursday marks 75 days since then. Unite has claimed the scrapping of the waste collection and recycling officer role has impacted 150 workers – with cuts to pay of up to £8,000.
But Labour-run Birmingham city council has disputed the figures, saying at the weekend: “Residents of Birmingham want and deserve a better waste collection service and the restructure that Unite is opposing is part of the much-needed transformation of the service.”
A Unite spokesperson said today: “The talks were inconclusive. There was an exchange of information and Unite asked for clarity on a number of points raised by the council, which are currently being worked on. It was agreed that there would be further regular negotiations but dates for further talks have not yet been set.”
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: “Birmingham City Council and Unite the Union met this afternoon to discuss the current industrial action. Whilst no resolution was reached today, there are points for discussion, the tone was constructive and we are working on the matters raised. We have contacted Unite representatives to schedule the series of future meeting dates.”