Birmingham Local Conservatives are calling on the Labour Administration at Birmingham City Council to urgently adopt their proposal to station bin lorries at alternative depots across the city, after the withdrawal of government support has once again left residents facing uncollected rubbish and mounting street waste.
Support from the Army and, use of section 14 powers by the police, and the use of barriers helped limit the delay to the collection schedule by enabling lorries to get out past picket lines. However, military support has now been withdrawn, and a police spokesman recently told local media that section 14 legislation was not in place as the situation did not meet the threshold. As such, picket lines have once again ground Birmingham’s waste collections to a halt.
On the morning of Monday the 19th, striking bin workers picketed all three depots. The expansion of strike action, intensifying the impact on residents dealing with rats and rubbish piling high, comes shortly after it was revealed that the Labour Administration's plans included cutting pay for an additional 200 bin workers.
Birmingham Local Conservatives have consistently proposed stationing bin lorries at alternative depots and sites to prevent this precise scenario. By dispersing vehicles across the city, the Council could ensure that at least a partial service continues even during periods of industrial action, as by law picketing must occur in front of the striking worker's place of work. But Labour have so far refused to implement this section of the plan.
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Opposition and Birmingham Local Conservatives, said:
Brummies have been left facing Labour's bin strike for 5 months so far. During that time, Labour have refused to discuss our real alternatives to end the strike and proposals. Birmingham Labour allowed 25,000 tonnes of rubbish to build up on our streets because they had no plan to end the strike and refused to move the lorries to other depots so they could go about their daily collections. Birmingham needs real change. Only the Local Conservatives can deliver it.
Cllr Tim Huxtable (Con, Hall Green South), Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said:
It’s been going on too long, and it's time the Council took the next step and adopted our proposal to move bin lorries to alternative depots. This would stop militant picket lines from paralysing the whole city and give residents the clean streets they deserve by preventing the build-up of rats and rubbish outside people’s homes
Birmingham Local Conservatives' wider plan for a cleaner city includes:
- Retaining weekly bin collections
- Scrapping the "rat tax" on pest control
- Boosting street cleaning
- Deploying more Mobile Household Waste Centres
