Birmingham bin collections suspended as agency staff join strike picket lines

Around 40 agency staff joined protests across the city on Monday, including one attended by around 200 pickets at the Smithfield depot, over health and safety concerns and disputed claims of bullying and harassment.

Their "unprecedented" decision prompted Birmingham City Council to suspend all bin collections, providing them with another setback in their ongoing battle with the city's waste collection workers.

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Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said video evidence of a "blacklisting threat" had been supplied to the council, said: "What we have got is the dispute actually escalating – more and more people joining the strike.”

Birmingham City Council has described the bullying claims as “unfounded” and says an investigation found that no “blacklisting” had occurred.

"There are disputes where sometimes in small numbers people join the strike as it goes on – what you don’t have is agency workers who have been brought in to break the strike actually balloting and voting and coming out on strike themselves as well," Mr Kasab added.

"And that tells you so much about how Birmingham City Council have mishandled this dispute.

"We need negotiations. None of us want to see this dispute escalated. None of us want to see a single day’s further strike action.

"There is an end here. There is a resolution here. All we need is negotiations. It can be resolved, that’s the frustrating thing, but equally, we are going to stand by our members for as long as it takes until we get a resolution."

Asked if striking bin workers’ resolve was as strong as it was when the all-out action began in March, Mr Kasab replied: “The resolve of the trade union is even stronger – the fact that the agency workers have joined means that the dispute has gone on from strength to strength.

“Our union, from the General Secretary down, will support our members until the end.”

Your Party MP Zarah Sultana was among those present at the Smithfield depot picket line to support the strikers, telling the crowd: “I am here as a proud member of Unite the Union, I am here as the MP for Coventry South, bringing solidarity from Coventry.

"I was proud to stand on the picket line with Coventry workers when they were on strike and I am proud to be with you this morning – this is an attack on the workers that keep this city clean, that keep this city running.

“No one will ever accept an £8,000 pay cut in a cost-of-living crisis."

Unite said the agency workers had voted in favour of strike action "over bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting at the council’s refuse department two weeks ago".

In a statement issued on social media on Monday, Birmingham City Council said: “Due to expected mass pickets and protests across our waste depots, we have taken the decision to suspend collections today.

“We apologise for the inconvenience. Collections will resume tomorrow. We aim to complete all collections by Sunday.”

The local authority has previously said it understands that a small number of agency staff are in a separate dispute with the Job & Talent agency, which has a contract to support the council’s waste operations.

The council, which says agency staff have played a crucial role in delivering a consistent waste service, said in a statement: "While we are disappointed the dispute has not been resolved as Unite has rejected all our offers, we are continuing to make regular waste collections and our contingency plan is working.

"We have been collecting an average of approximately 1,330 tonnes of kerbside waste every day, more than we did prior to industrial action, and over the last six months, we have collected over 100,000 tonnes of kerbside waste.

"The city council has contingency plans and will continue to look to maintain residents with a minimum of one collection a week.

"Meanwhile, we continue to move forward with the service improvements that are long overdue and that our residents need."

In response to the claims of so-called blacklisting, the council said it "does not condone any actions which are contrary to legislation and good employment practice" and added that a full investigation was immediately initiated.

“This has now concluded and has found that no blacklisting has taken place,” the statement added.