City bin strike could go on for months, union says

Bin strikes in Birmingham could go on for months, a union has warned.

Unite members have staged a series of one-day walkouts since January, but on Wednesday the trade union announced refuse workers would move to all-out strikes from 11 March.

Scenes of bin bags piled on pavements are an unwelcome reminder of industrial action in previous years and have been blamed by residents for attracting vermin.

In a statement, Birmingham City Council said the escalation would lead to "greater disruption to residents, despite the fair and reasonable offer that the council made to the union".

Steven Message, who is a resident in Hockley on Brookfield Road, said he was concerned the disruption would lead to an increase in fly-tipping.

"We can't have wheelie bins because there is nowhere to store them, but then we put the black bags out and people see that and think 'Great, I'll dump my mattress there or my sofa' and it attracts more waste," he said.

"We've had everything, you name it we've had it. There's no way anyone can get down this pavement."

Other residents in the city told the BBC that they believed the large amounts of waste on the streets had attracted "cat-sized" rats.

Ayden, a resident in Kings Norton said: "There's a huge pile that looks like a mountain, it's taller and definitely wider than me.

"We can't keep up with the amount of rubbish and it's just getting worse and worse."

He added that some of the bags were torn and he no longer wanted to walk his children around the area.

Unite regional officer Zoe Mayou said she "really hoped" the action would not be needed for "months" but she could not rule it out.

"We don't want this dragging out any longer than anyone else - if we got an appropriate deal and helped with the service in Birmingham this could be over in a couple of weeks."

The dispute is over pay and conditions, particularly the loss of a certain job role.

The union and council do not agree on the impact of the loss of the role.

The council added that its "door is still open" and encouraged the union to "come back to the table".

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