Birmingham bin strikes have been ongoing since January, with all out industrial action from March 11
It has now been more than 100 days since Birmingham’s bin strikes intensified- and city residents have been left wondering if there is any end in sight.
The long running dispute over a removal of roles and pay has been raging on since January, with no sign yet of an agreement between Unite the union, which represents bin workers, and Birmingham City Council.
However all out industrial action has been taking place since March 11, which is now 103 days ago.
READ MORE: Watch big rat spark panic in Birmingham city centre as bin strike rumbles on
In that time, there have been ‘collective conciliation’ talks hosted between the feuding sides by independent public body Acas, a major incident declared, numerous protests and ongoing concerns from residents about pest control issues and high piles of rubbish blighting their neighbourhood.
Bin strike turmoil has also produced some surreal and surprising moments including a heckler during a dramatic meeting of the city council last week and a resident wearing a ‘giant rat’ costume to the council’s public gallery in April.
The ‘rat’ remained in character and shared their deadpan comments with BirminghamLive’s Local Democracy reporter Alex Brock before the meeting got under way. You can read more on that here.
A man in a rat costume before a full council meeting gets underway at Birmingham City Council House.(Image: Alexander Brock)
Last week, Council leader John Cotton faced fury from the public gallery in a tense moment before the meeting was dramatically adjourned.
“Would you take an £8,000 pay cut Cotton?” a man furiously shouted as Coun Cotton attempted to answer a question about the strike from a resident.
However, as we reported on June 19, we understand that negotiations will resume next week with potential developments announced.
ACAS, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, are mediating talks between both sides.
It’s been a turbulent period for the city, with tales of cat-sized rats and public outcry drawing negative attention from across the world.
As it stands, Unite’s dispute with the Labour-run city council, over plans to scrap a Waste Recycling and Collection Officer, remains unresolved.
Striking workers have raised concerns about pay while the council’s leadership has repeatedly insisted that a “fair and reasonable” offer has been made.
The council said it continues to seek to resolve the dispute but the service has to be transformed “to one that the citizens of Birmingham deserve”.
The authority has also said previously that all WRCO workers had been offered alternative employment at the same pay, driver training or voluntary redundancy.
Coun Cotton added that the council “cannot and will not entertain anything that would re-open an equal pay liability”.
Negotiations surrounding the strike are expected to resume this coming week commencing June 23.