Unite the Union has announced an escalation of strike action to an “all-out” strike five days a week, plunging the city further into chaos as Labour’s inability to resolve its internal dispute continues to affect public services.
The strikes, which began in response to Labour’s removal of the Waste and Recycling Collection Officers, are now expected to leave hundreds of thousands of households without regular waste collection, with recycling, bulk waste, and paid-for white goods collections already suspended.
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Opposition & Birmingham Local Conservatives, said:
Birmingham Labour’s financial mismanagement has left residents facing missed collections, rats in the streets, and a public health mess. This is now the third time in recent years that bin strikes have brought the city to a standstill because of Labour’s internal disputes with the unions. Enough is enough – residents should not be forced to pay the price for Labour’s incompetence. Yet they are facing Labour’s double whammy of higher Council Tax for fewer services as they impose fortnightly refuse collections on residents.
This latest industrial action is the third wave of bin strikes since 2017, all linked to Labour’s mishandling of pay agreements with the unions. The current dispute stems from Labour’s own botched equal pay deal, which the press have reported created the WRCO role in 2017 to end a previous strike but has now led potentially to legal and financial liabilities for the Council.
Cllr Ewan Mackey (Con, Sutton Roughley), Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives, added:
Labour’s bankruptcy is forcing residents to pay more in council tax and pest control charges while receiving fewer services. Their inability to manage the Council’s finances has created the perfect storm – bin strikes, fortnightly collections, and cuts to street cleaning. The result? Rats thriving, rubbish piling up, and residents left in the lurch. The City and its services are not safe in Labour's hands.
The bin strikes come alongside Labour’s controversial introduction last year, for the first time ever and then increased by 10% this year, pest control fees, dubbed the ‘Rat Tax’. This follows a £1.82 million cut to street cleaning, which has already reduced waste audits and neighbourhood waste contamination teams and seen rubbish piling up on the streets.
Birmingham Local Conservatives are calling for Labour to take immediate action to resolve the dispute without creating another financial crisis or potential liabilities, ensuring a return to reliable weekly collections for all residents.
