Birmingham’s bin strike situation “cannot continue”, the local council leader has said ahead of a fresh round of talks to end the industrial action, that has seem bin bags piled high across the city.
Bin workers are striking for the fifth week after the latest pay offer by Birmingham City Council was snubbed by members of the Unite union on Monday. On Tuesday, Birmingham council urged union members to reconsider its “very, very fair offer” as residents reported seeing “cat-sized rats”.
Negotiations between the council and Unite have stalled for months in a dispute about plans to remove the post of waste recycling and collection officer (WRCO). On 11 March, it culminated in hundreds of bin workers launching an indefinite all-out strike that shows no signs of coming to an end.
Read more: Birmingham bin strike to continue after refuse workers reject council’s offer
On Wednesday, council leader John Cotton urged Unite to “come back to the table” and bring an end to the all-out bin worker strike that has caused misery for residents since it started on March 11.
Cotton also said that he is confident the majority of the mountains of waste left on the streets can be cleared by the end of this week, with crews currently getting rid of 1,500 tonnes of rubbish a day.
Unite say that the WRCO is an important health and safety role and that around 150 workers face losing up to £8,000 annually due to the decision.
The union adds that the plans will affect hundreds who face losing out on the prospect of pay progression. The council has disputed this, saying only 17 workers will be affected.
A huge pile of rubbish on Primrose Avenue, Sparkbrook, Birmingham. (British News and Media/Alamy Live News)
Craig Cooper, the council’s strategic director of city operations, has previously said that the WRCO role is “not fit for purpose” and urged striking workers to think again about the offer the local authority has put forward, which he says has included alternative job roles.
While many councils have experienced severe financial struggles in recent years, Birmingham’s troubles have been worse than most.
In 2012, it lost a Supreme Court ruling that opened the floodgates to a deluge of historic equal pay claims from female workers who had been underpaid.
The council effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023 following payouts of more than £1.1bn over the previous decade. An agreement with unions in December 2024 left the council with estimated liabilities of £760mn.
How much do refuse workers in Birmingham and around the UK get paid?
The UK government website says that workers who collect household and commercial waste for disposal or recycling can expect to earn between £24,000 to £30,000.
Salaries vary around the UK, with London bin workers being the highest paid, with an average hourly rate of around £12.51, according to Indeed.
Glassdoor, a website where workers can post salaries anonymously, says it can say with a high degree of confidence that the estimated salary for a bin collector is £21,311 per year in the Birmingham area.
A Unite union member takes part in a rally outside Birmingham Council House as the council bin collectors continue their strike. (Getty Images)
Bin lorry drivers can earn more, up to around £33,000 or more, but any starting salary can vary because of experience, training or location.
The WRCO role, which Unite are fighting to keep, is unique to Birmingham City Council and was introduced in 2017 because of a previous bin strike, say the council.
What deal did bin workers in Birmingham reject?
On 14 April, workers were balloted on whether to accept a second proposal by the council, which was rejected by 97% Unite members, on a 60% turnout.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the offer was “totally inadequate” and included only a “partial deal on pay protection for a few”.
Although the exact details of the deal have not been made public, Graham said that the offer still included substantial pay cuts and failed to address potential pay cuts for 200 drivers.
Birmingham has already announced fewer bin collections in a bid to cut about £148m of spending, while increasing council tax by 7.49%.
Graham said: “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.
Rubbish piles up on a residential street in Birmingham, amid an ongoing refuse workers’ strike in the city. (AP)
“From the start, the council has constantly moved the goalposts for these workers, prolonging the strikes in the process. First it was equal pay, then it was about improving the waste service, then cost cutting.”
Speaking to the PA news agency at the city council’s offices ahead of more negotiations on Wednesday, Cotton said: “It’s really disappointing that Unite have rejected a second reasonable offer from the council, however, our door remains open to talk, so I’m really pleased that there will be further talks taking place later today.
“Obviously, I’m not going to offer a running commentary on what happens in those negotiations but what I will say is what we cannot accept is anything that results in crossing our red lines around our equal pay liability, or indeed imperilling the transformation of the waste service.
Read more: Walsall Council withdraws its offer of support to Birmingham City Council during bin strikes
“These are really important things that need to happen for the benefit of the citizens of Birmingham, but we’re absolutely open to negotiations and bringing this dispute to a close which has gone on, frankly, for far too long.”
Preivously, a Birmingham City Council spokesperson said that every employee affected by the removal of the WRCO role could “take an equivalent graded role in the council, LGV driver training or voluntary redundancy packages”.
Could the bin strike spread to other parts of the country?
The Birmingham bin strikes follow other disputes between bin workers and employers across the country as local authorities try to save money.
Some union members in Sheffield are on strike with Veolia, who have worked with Sheffield City Council to provide waste management services since 2001.
Read more: Bin strikes could spread beyond Birmingham, union warns
Unite decided to take industrial action as Veolia refused to sign a union recognition agreement with workers.
In December last year refuse staff at Peterborough Limited – a company wholly owned by Peterborough City Council – threatened industrial action in a pay dispute with the GMB union.
The Unite offices in Birmingham. (British News and Media/Alamy Live News)
Last month Peterborough Council recommended taking the services back in-house, which could mean the end for the company, whose services including recycling and waste collection.
On 15 April, during a discussion about the Birmingham bin strikes Ms Graham said she would give the green light for “action in other areas” if councils targeted low-paid workers.
She told LBC: “Well, if other councils decide to make low-paid workers pay for bad decisions that they did not make, workers paying the price yet again, then absolutely. Of course, we all have to take action in those other areas.”
How will it end?
Unite members have now rejected Birmingham City council’s second offer, with no news on when, or if, a third deal maybe offered.
Graham has called for the UK government to step in “urgently” and bring stakeholders to the table to “ensure steps are taken to bring the strike to an end”.
The city council has asked neighbouring authorities to help tackle the crisis. On Monday it was revealed the council was receiving help from the Army to battle the backlog.
Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite the Union, said the strikes could potentially spread. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
The UK government said that a “small number” of office-based planners will provide logistical support, and soldiers are not being deployed to collect rubbish.
A government spokesperson said: “In light of the ongoing public health risk, a small number of office-based military personnel with operational planning expertise have been made available to Birmingham city council to further support in this area.
Kasab told the PA news agency that the dispute could be “resolved on Wednesday, and the best people to clean the streets are the people who work in the refuse service”
He said: “We don’t need the Army, as wonderful as they are. We don’t need people by the councils and agencies coming in.”
The council have tried to remove the waste regardless and say they have collected 11,588 tonnes of waste since Friday April 4 as they work through the piles of bins around the city.
Leader of the Council Cllr John Cotton said he shares the “frustration of people across the city”.
He said: “Our work to clear the backlog is gathering pace and we will continue collecting waste over the weekend. I fully appreciate that there is still more to do.”