The union representing striking workers claims the council is recruiting new staff ‘to replace striking agency workers’
Job & Talent agency bin workers jointed the strike on December 1 and marched to Birmingham City Council House(Image: PA)
Birmingham City Council is hiring new agency workers to clean the city’s streets amid ongoing industrial action, Unite has claimed.
The union, representing striking bin workers, claims the authority is recruiting new staff to “replace striking agency workers” who joined the picket line earlier this week.
Online job adverts, seen by BirminghamLive, show a number of roles being advertised, including for a ‘HGV Class 2 refuse driver’ position with recruitment firm Smarter Solutions.
According to the ad, successful candidates will “work alongside outdoor clean-up team members” and will be responsible for clearing “leaves, litter and debris” from public areas including streets and parks.
READ MORE: Defiant Birmingham Council tells bin strike union ‘change is coming’
It comes after agency binmen, employed by Job & Talent recruitment firm, joined the picket line on Monday, December 1, over alleged bullying and threats of blacklisting.
As a result, no household waste collections were said to have taken place across the city that day.
A job vacancy online
Unite, the union representing striking refuse collectors, said this morning it does not accept the council’s position that it’s not unlawfully using temporary staff to replace those currently on strike.
The union claimed new agency workers had already been drafted in through Smart Solutions at the authority’s Smithfield depot.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Instead of trying to break a strike, the council should stop disgracing itself and get back to talks to find a fair resolution for the bin workers.
“That is the only way strikes will end.”
Directly employed refuse collectors have been in dispute since January over said pay reductions of up to £8,000 for drivers and loaders.
Birmingham City Council’s bins chief, Coun Majid Mahmood, said this week he was ‘struggling to understand’ why the strike was continuing.
He told BirminghamLive: “Every worker that’s been impacted so far has been resolved.
“Most of the former driver team leaders have accepted their roles as drivers. There were three compulsory redundancies issued.
“Some have taken voluntary redundancies, some changed their role. So everyone has accepted a new role or taken other action. I’m struggling to understand why they (Unite members) are still out on strike.”
We have contacted Birmingham City Council and Smarter Solutions for comment.